


Stories from the OBX

by collectingstories



Category: Outer Banks (TV)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, JJ (Outer Banks) Deserves Better, Kooks (Outer Banks), Pogues (Outer Banks), just a bunch of imagines, lots of smoking weed
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-05
Updated: 2020-06-12
Packaged: 2021-03-03 00:22:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 34
Words: 52,567
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24015880
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/collectingstories/pseuds/collectingstories
Summary: A collection of one shots about the Pogues and the Outer Banks. Mostly JJ x reader and John B x reader. All taken from my own Tumblr @collecting_stories.
Relationships: JJ (Outer Banks)/Original Female Character(s), JJ (Outer Banks)/Reader, JJ Maybank/reader, JJ Maybank/you, John B Routledge/reader, John B Routledge/you, John B/reader, John B/you
Comments: 4
Kudos: 121





	1. Runaway - JJ Maybank/reader

**Author's Note:**

> Request: Hey I love your stuff! I saw you also write for outer banks now. God that show is taking over my life! Could I possibly request a jij x reader one with the prompts 55 & 90? Thank you so much 💕

There were certain times of the day you never saw alone. Three a.m. was a prime example of one of those times. Sure, there had been plenty of all nighters pulled at the chateau or at the restaurant or on the dock but the three a.m.’s were in sync. They followed midnight and one and two and fell into four. They weren’t alone. It wasn’t just three a.m.; you never woke up willingly when it was still dark out. And to be fair, you still didn’t. 

You’d been woken up by a semi-force of nature. The rhythmic tapping of rocks on your window until finally you had pulled yourself out of bed and climbed onto the flat stretch of roof that ran between your bedroom and the garage. You sat on the drop off like always and there in the dark was JJ, red baseball cap evident even at three. 

“Jayj…what are you doing here?” You whisper shouted, dangling your legs over the edge of the roof. He never came up, you always went down to him. 

The automatic porch light flickered on when he moved a little further toward the house, bathing him and his dirt bike in a fluorescent glow. 

“Generators.” You confirmed when he looked surprised. The cut was still out of power in residential areas and they were saying it would continue on like that for at least a month. 

“Didn’t realise I was on figure eight,” he joked but the way he crossed his arms over his chest made it clear the very notion of a generator made him uncomfortable. He was always quick with a dig at Kiara about her family, it was only second nature that he be defensive at the thought of someone having more than him. 

“You’re hilarious. We have to have ‘em for my step dad’s bipap,” you dropped onto the ground so no one would hear you talking, “if it makes you feel better it’s rigged outside so we have to leave the door open.” 

JJ laughed and took his cap off for a second to run a hand through his hair. There was a cut at his hairline and bruising near his eye that you caught sight of. 

“Do you wanna go sit?” You motioned toward the picnic table that sat by a tree in your backyard. Your stepdad had been talking about renovations when he dropped the table there four years ago but renovations never happened and the table just grew into the yard. 

“Sure, yeah, sure.” He nodded and led the way over. You watched as he picked the chapped skin of his lower lip and avoided eye contact. Something was up, something that had driven him here at three a.m. 

“Are you okay JJ?” It would take less than three tries to figure out what was wrong with him and he would never say anything outright but you knew. You knew JJ and nothing in the world would have him out of bed at three a.m. unless he was partying. 

You’d known JJ since middle school when your family first moved down to OBX. It wasn’t the move you had imagined and you had spent the first twelve years of your life hating the beach and everything about ‘beach life’. Forging a new life as a person who lived near a beach seemed impossible. But then you’d met JJ and suddenly the beach didn’t feel so bad. It wasn’t a sentiment you had ever shared with him but it was true, JJ was the only good thing that had happened to you down here. And for the most part that was still completely true. You had other friends, Pope, John B, Kiara, but it was JJ that mattered the most to you. It was JJ that you knew the best. So you knew what he was doing at your house at three in the morning and you knew he would never talk to you about it. 

“Felt like taking a drive,” he shrugged. His face was still a little redder than usual, eyes still bloodshot. He was steadily sucking on a Juul, trying to calm himself down but even the weed wasn’t working. 

“At three in the morning?” The porch light flickered off and the whole yard was blanketed in the dark. Sunrise wasn’t for three or so more hours. You should’ve been sleeping. “You wanna come up? You can crash with me?” 

“I might head to John B’s.” He shrugged. He house jumped whenever things got really bad between him and his dad. He’d stayed at yours once last summer but had been since informed he was only allowed over when someone else was home and awake after your mom caught the two of you macking on the couch. 

“Are you sure? My mom and Marty are down in Florida visiting family.” You offered. 

The original incident that your mom had interrupted had been a surprise to you too. You had liked JJ since you met him. While everyone else was losing their shit over John B you were crushing pretty heavily on JJ. But it wasn’t until the summer after freshman year that you said anything about it to him. As far as you were concerned it was all one-sided. Tragically one-sided, you pining after a guy who was probably pining after Kiara like every other guy on the island. 

But then he’d shown up at your house asking to crash for a few days and your mom had given you sheets for the sofa in the living room and you were kissing him. Though it hadn’t gone quite that smoothly. You hadn’t clocked it play by play in your head and it always felt a little hazy when you thought back to it but you remembered the most important parts. 

Sitting on the couch with him, watching TV and waiting for him to say anything at all about why he was here in the first place. It had been late than too but not three in the morning. You didn’t remember what was on TV or what you were talking about; all you remembered was looking over at him and suddenly he was kissing you. And then you were kissing him back. 

“JJ,” your knee brushed his and you reached over to hold his hand in yours. You were beginning to adjust to the dark and you could make out his basic form again. He squeezed your hand and leaned over to kiss the side of your head. 

Three a.m. JJ was tired and maybe a little more in his head than normal. 

“Come inside, please?” 

“I can’t climb up.” He replied, it’s the most he’ll say about his injuries. 

“That’s why we have a front door.” 

“I should head to John B’s.” 

“JJ, stay,” you urged, squeezing his hand, “please?” 

When he said nothing you started to get off the picnic table, ready to go back inside. Before you could step down off the bench JJ grabbed your arm and you stopped, looking down at him. “Let’s runaway.”

“What?” 

“We take the Pogue or just get in the bus and take off.” 

“JJ.”

“Come on. Please?” He begged. 

You sat back down beside him, wrapping an arm around his shoulders and bringing him into a hug. He curled in on you, face pressed into the crook of your neck. “Jay, we can’t leave. What about John B and Pope and Kie, you can’t just bag off.” 

“I hate this.” 

“Come inside, please, stay with me. At least until my parents come back.” You reasoned. 

“If we do find that money…would you?” JJ asked, lips brushing against your skin as he spoke.

“Would I, runaway with you?”

He nodded. 

“Maybe.”

“What do you mean maybe? That’s a yes or no question.” JJ said, sitting up and getting off the picnic table. Any other time he wouldn’t have sounded so pissed at your comment but he was already on edge. 

“Even if we find that money we can’t just bag off-“ 

“Yeah I heard you the first time.” He walked back to where he’d left his bike on the ground and you got up, following him and grabbing his arm. You didn’t want him driving to John B’s like this. 

“Please JJ, don’t leave. Just come inside.” You pleaded. 

“I’m going to John’s.” 

“JJ, come on.” 

“God dammit!” He yanked his arm away and turned to look at you, grateful that the porch light wouldn’t pick up his movement and you wouldn’t have to see him crying, “you’re so fucking annoying. Just quit pestering me.” 

“I’m not trying to piss you off, I just want you to come in. You’re here now and my parents aren’t home and it’s been a while since we’ve been alone.” 

Sleepovers were usually at the Chateau and consisted of all your friends. There were other places that you got away to and Pope had caught you both more than once in the back of the van but it’d been a while since you’d really slept together. With out the sound of John B snoring or Pope getting up halfway through the night to crash on the sofa bed with the two of you. JJ’s house was out of the question and you only managed to sneak him into yours every once in a while. 

This was a rare opportunity and you didn’t want to ruin it by upsetting him more than he was already. He knew that, he knew you only asked because you were concerned, because you loved him and didn’t want anything bad to happen to him. A newer phenomenon in his life, sometimes he had trouble adjusting to how much you genuinely cared about him. 

“Yeah okay.” 

JJ left his boots on the porch and followed you into the small house. He held your hand as you led him upstairs to your bedroom, careful to miss the creaking floorboards. You were even more careful with him, laying down beside him in bed, making sure you didn’t hurt any part of him that was already bruised. 

He wasn’t anywhere near as concerned though, pulling you down onto the bed with him and getting comfortable. He was glad he hadn’t gotten on his bike and gone to John B’s. 

“Hey,” you whispered, kissing his jaw, “ask me again?” 

“What?” 

“Ask me again…about leaving?”

JJ stared up at the glow in the dark stars on your ceiling. He could remember buying them for you in 7th grade. He mowed every lawn on the street to save up for your birthday and he spent it all on glow stars and an ice cream cake. 

“Run away with me?”

“Okay.” 

He tightened his grip, pulling you closer and kissing your forehead despite the pain in his ribs at the contact. “Sorry I said that shit about you being annoying. Even when you’re annoying the fuck out of me I still love you.” 

“Oh, do you?” You smiled, “are you sure?”

“Shut up.” JJ said, pressing his face against your hair, inhaling the scent of shampoo. 

“I love you too.” 

“I know we can’t actually bag off and run away.” JJ admitted, “I’m just sick of this place.”

“Hey,” you shifted enough that you could see him, brushing hair out of his face and kissing him, “where you go I go.”


	2. Runaway (Alt. Version) - JJ Maybank/reader

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An alternate version of the request : Hey I love your stuff! I saw you also write for outer banks now. God that show is taking over my life! Could I possibly request a jij x reader one with the prompts 55 & 90? Thank you so much 💕

“Just for the afternoon.” JJ reasoned, laying with his head on your thigh.

“I don’t think we can sail to the Bahamas and back in an afternoon.” You reasoned. You were running your fingers through JJ’s damp hair, twisting strands and then combing them back out. It was methodical and JJ looked close to falling asleep right there on an old Power Rangers towel in the middle of a beach kegger. 

You’d been playing chicken earlier in the ocean with John B, Pope, and Kiara but after you had lost for the third time you took a break, relaxing away from the rest of the party. You had carved out your own little space in the midst of the boneyard when the kooks and the tourists started to get on your nerves. You’d been there, smoking when JJ found you and decided to stay.

“We could take the Pogue,” he said, voice sleepy from a combination of weed and sun. 

“I think John B would notice if the Pogue went missing.” You loved all of JJ’s crazy ideas and you’d gone through with them on more than one occasion, despite questionable safety and legality, though they rarely involved leaving the island. 

“It’d be pretty dope though,” he replied, turning his head toward your body when the sun started to hurt his eyes. 

“You better not burn me with that,” you cautioned when he continued to smoke his blunt. 

“I never have before.” He retorted. 

“Why don’t we just take the Pogue down to Sand Island or something?” You bargained.

“You don’t wanna go to the Bahamas with me?”

“JJ,” you rolled your eyes, “I would go anywhere on earth with you.“

“Where are we going?” Pope asked, falling onto the sand beside you and JJ. 

“We’re going somewhere?” John B came up, putting a hand on your shoulder and handing you a red cup. Kie was with him, stepping over a piece of driftwood to sit down. 

“Jay wants to take the Pogue to Nassau.” You replied, taking a sip of the cheap beer. 

“Dude, there is no way.” Kie laughed, “that thing could take us, maybe to the keys.” 

“Told you.” You teased, sticking your tongue out at him. 

“Yo Pope,” JJ sat up, flipping you off but not looking at you. “Explain this science problem to me, even when she’s annoying the fuck out of me I still love her…you think something’s wrong with my head?” He asked. 

“I know something is wrong with your head.” You laughed, pushing him away when he leaned into you. JJ passed his blunt off to Kiara and stood up, stretching out before scooping you up, without warning, and throwing you over his shoulder. “Oh my god! JJ, put me down!” 

Your beer sloshed as the cup fell out of your hand. JJ didn’t say a word as he walked with you toward the shoreline. Kie, Pope, and John B got up, following behind him as John B shouted to throw you in. 

“Our friendship ends today JB!” You laughed, still trying to break out of JJ’s hold. He ran into the water, stopping when he was up to his knees and letting you go. You shrieked as you rolled off him, arms flailing as you hit the water. Other people who had gotten caught up in the moment cheered as the rest of your friends threw themselves into the current. 

When you surfaced JJ was standing there, smiling, smoking the blunt he had taken back from Kiara. He was smiling down at you, clearly proud of himself for having thrown you into the water. “I hate you, by the way.” You said, pulling your shirt off and wringing it out. 

“You love me.” 

“No.” You shook your head, “JJ.” When he stepped closer you backed up. 

“Come on, say it. Say you love me.” He was grinning mischievously as he grabbed your waist and pulled you closer to him. 

You shook your head, trying not to smile as he leaned in, kissing your neck and shoulder. “Say it.”

“Okay….maybe I love…John B.” You joked, twisting in JJ’s arms and looking over at John, winking. 

John B laughed and chimed in, “what do you mean maybe? That’s a yes or no!”

“You know I love you John, deep down. Way, way, way deep down.” You laughed when he splashed water at you. JJ lifted you up and twisted both of you away from John B’s assault. You caught sight of JJ’s blunt, still in his hand, “oh my god you still have that thing! Jay!”

“I’m not gonna burn you.” He laughed. JJ had an unnatural talent for keeping a blunt lit no matter what. You weren’t sure how he managed it but you couldn’t complain. 

“You’re impossible. Come on.” You pulled away from him and grabbed his hand, trying to lead him out of the ocean. The sun was going down and the party was starting to really pick up. 

“Where are we going?” Despite the question he followed you, hand clasped in yours as you led him through the party. 

“Everyone’s down here.” You said, waving with your free hand around to the party goers as you weaved through the boneyard. You could see the bus in the distance, old brown VW covered in stickers. Not your ideal place but it was better than the pullout couch at John B’s or sneaking around JJ’s when Luke wasn’t home. 

“So?” He asked, clueless to your intention. 

“So we’re going to the bus.” You replied. 

“Why?”

You hummed, “because I love you.” 

The slow grin that took over his face said that the signal had finally gotten through to his brain and he knew exactly what you were insinuating. You took the long-surviving blunt from him and took a drag, blowing the smoke back in his face. The sun was almost completely set when you reached the bus, climbing in. JJ got in after you, taking one last look at the party before knotting your shirt to the handle and slamming the door shut.


	3. Lovesick - JJ Maybank/reader

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A kook from figure eight has a massive crush on JJ and weasels her way into spending the afternoon with him and Pope.

You had broken the cardinal rule. Or at least, the cardinal rule of the club. You were sick of the club though, sick of Rafe and Kelce and Topper. Sick of standing around on a golf course in the sun watching idiots tee off and bullshit about daddy’s yacht. So sick of it that when you saw Heyward’s grocery boat up ahead, Pope and JJ on board, you’re brain might have short circuited. 

“I’m out.” You had announced, loud enough to draw Topper’s attention at least, halfway down the dune when he tried to grab your arm. 

“Whoa, what the hell, where are you going?”

“Anywhere else.” You didn’t care where you had to go so long as it was far away from here. A boat with a couple of Pogues, one in particular, would be a nice change of scenery. 

“Come on, stay,” Topper tried to ease you into the idea of more tee time, more khaki shorts, more polos, more martinis to numb the absolute disgust you felt in your stomach every time you got in the car with one of these guys. 

The boat had docked and Pope was walking your way, groceries in hand. You stumbled the rest of the way down the dune and onto the path that led to their boat. Topper followed. From up the embankment Rafe shouted, “don’t be such a bitch!” 

“This is all just bullshit.” You shouted back.

“Hey, whoa, calm down.” Topper held his hands up like you were some wild animal to be approached slowly. Pope walked passed though you thought you saw him pause once he was a safe distance passed. 

“Don’t tell me to calm down,” when he grabbed at you again you stepped away, “and don’t fucking touch me! I’m sick of all this bullshit.” 

“Chill the fuck out bitch!” Rafe shouted. A few older men on the course looked over in shock. 

“Fuck you Rafe! You’re such a fucking asshole! God, just-“ you jerked back when Topper made a third swipe at you, stepping into Pope on his way back from deliveries. The commotion had drawn JJ too, standing at the end of the trail adjusting his cap. “Don’t fucking touch me! Go to hell!” With the most elegant bird you could manage you flipped off Topper and headed in the direction of JJ and the boat. 

You had broken the cardinal rule of the club. Don’t make a scene and embarrass your parents. You had broken the cardinal rule of kook life in the Outer Banks too though which was, don’t chase a Pogue. Well, really, it was probably along the much simpler lines of ‘don’t ever, ever, never, ever, in a million years, ever, even look in the direction of a Pogue but if you have to for the love of God do not be nice to them’. Too late. You were face to face with JJ asking if the water was nice and he was grinning that same stupid grin you’d watched all summer doing odd jobs for kooks in the neighbourhood and waiting for the moment that grin was for you. 

“Oh no! No way man!” Pope hissed, following you back to his father’s boat. Topper was still shouting after the three of you but neither of his goons had come down the embankment so he stayed put. 

“Chill out,” JJ smiled, patting Pope on the cheek and looking over at you, “she won’t cause any trouble will you?” 

“I’m loads of trouble. Didn’t you just see that?” You inquired. 

JJ, still smiling, switched his attention fully to you, tossing an arm over your shoulders and pulling you close. His skin was warm on your neck and shoulders, easing the slight burn standing out in the sun had caused. “Oh yeah, you’re a real fire cracker.” He leaned in close, throwing aside personal space and you weren’t sure what sort of test this was. Were you supposed to laugh it off uncomfortably like you hadn’t spent all year thinking about him. Or were you supposed to be warded off by their back woods charm and ditch their asses for Topper. 

You went for the one you thought he might not see coming. “I can be.” A sly smile and his blues eyes went wide for the fraction of a second before he was letting you go, hand running down your back as he slid his arm off your shoulders, a much smoother move than you would’ve thought JJ capable of. 

“Welcome aboard.” He guided you onto the boat and Pope was peeling away from the dock as quickly as he could. 

The next stop was apparently JJ’s as he grabbed up groceries in his arms and jumped onto the dock, running up to the house that had ordered from Heyward. Pope fixed you with a ‘we should talk look’ but you beat him to the punch. 

“If you’re going to ask my intentions or something-“

“Why did you get on this boat?” Or maybe he beat you. He was looking accusatory and you tried to figure out what you thought he thought was going to happen. “Be straight with me.”

“Look, I know the ‘rules’ or whatever.” You conceded, “but I really like JJ.”

“Are you fucking with me?” Pope asked, taking in all five feet and various inches of you. “You like JJ.”

“You told me to be straight with you. That’s it straight, I like JJ.” 

“Since when?”

“Since he mowed the lawn last summer.” You knew the exact moment in time and everything. It was like a Polaroid in your head. The perfect snap of summer, the green grass and JJ’s tan and you had been in your room trying to find something to wear for the stupid midsummers party and you looked outside and there he was. Broad shouldered and tan and blonde, he was shirtless and mowing the lawn and you stood in the window for the entire length of the backyard, watching him. 

“Are you kidding me?” 

“No.” You shrugged, picking at the hole in your jean shorts. Pope nodded toward the dock and you turned to see JJ headed back. 

“Woohooo, damn!” He shouted, hoping back on the boat. “Look at this shit.” He waved a hundred in both of your faces before stuffing it in his pocket. “Tipped $100 for walking groceries up.” 

Pope shook his head and looked over at you. It was a warning glance, as if to ward you off of your current infatuation. Unlikely, of course. There was no way that you were going to suddenly be turned off the idea of JJ, not after a year. Not when he dropped onto the bench beside you, so close that your thighs touched as he leaned back and closed his eyes. 

“Damn the sun feels good today.” He said, fixing his baseball cap on his head to shield his eyes. 

You pulled your legs up to sit cross-legged, not a benefit to your tan but at least now your leg was practically on top of his. Pope was navigating the boat through the marsh, making stern faces at you that reminded you of your dad when he was upset about anything you did in life. 

“How many more stops do you guys have?” You asked, looking away from Pope and holding a hand up to shield your eyes from the sun. 

“Bored already? You want us to swing you back around to the club?” JJ asked, lifting his hat and looking over at you. His eyes were bluer than the ocean. How did Kiara seriously hang out with these guys all day and never just want to mack on of them? Maybe she was…you hadn’t thought about that. 

You’d always heard she was closest to John B but maybe she liked one of the others. Pope and JJ were good looking too, JJ more so than the other two boys, at least in your opinion. 

“No, I just wanted to like swim or something.” Your bathing suit was adorable and had little pineapples on it and the top did wonders for your boobs. Your whole figure really. 

“Patience young padawan, first we deliver the groceries, than we hit the waves.” Pope said, smiling when you laughed. “Hey JJ, you’re at the bow, I got this one.” 

Had laughing at a Star Wars reference earned you a gold star in Pope’s book? Impossible. Was he throwing you a bone? Maybe. Either way he was off the boat as JJ stood at the wheel, leaning against it for support. He’d left his hat on the bench and you picked it up, putting it on your head while he wasn’t looking. 

“Hey thanks,” you piped up. Play it cool, like you had at the club. After the meltdown, of course. 

“For…” JJ trailed off as he turned around to face you, grinning at the sight of you in his cap, “for the hat?”

“For letting me tag along, I know I’m just a lame kook.” You knew the shit they said about kooks and frankly it was all true. 

“I mean, not all of us can be so privileged to be born on the Southside.” He replied, grinning and crossing his arms over his chest. You felt like your eyes zeroed right in on the way the muscles in his arms flexed. 

“Well I’ve seen the light, please, save me from my dull kook existence.” You fake pleaded, biting your lip when he pushed off the wheel and walked over to you. 

There was no way you could ever heed any of Pope’s warnings. Not when JJ was looking at you like this. Screw any other girl who had ever entertained the thought of him because you were not giving this up with out a fight. A bloody tooth and nail fight to the death. He was leaning over you, hand on the back of the bench behind your head as he took his cap back. “It would be my pleasure.” 

You sat up a little straighter, meeting him in the space between your bodies, so close to touching him that you were 100% sure you could feel his breath on your lips. You’d never heard much about the four Pogues before but you had heard enough times that it was John B with the charm and you thought maybe some of it had rubbed off on JJ. Or maybe you were so deep in your enchantment that he could’ve said anything and you would’ve been at his mercy. 

“Guys!” Pope broke the spell as he boarded the boat again. JJ pushed off the bench and went over to his best friend, effectively leaving you alone on the bench again. The pair spoke in hushed tones to each other, every once in a while something slipped from JJ when he got too excitable to keep his voice down. 

“You guys are like the worst at entertaining guests you know that?” You called when their whispering finally got on your nerves. They weren’t a thing right, cause that would be so on brand for you. Be interested in a guy that was totally unavailable. 

JJ was out of your league, you’d admit to that. But could he just not be unavailable too. 

“Not really a guest when you commandeer a vessel.” Pope replied. 

“What? I did not! JJ invited me on board.” You pointed out. Sure, it had been a round about suggestion on your end that he had caught on to but technically he invited you, therefore you were a guest. 

“Well yeah,” Pope waved his hand up and down to indicate your body as the reason JJ had invited you. 

“What the hell man!” JJ smacked Pope’s arm. 

“Oh come on dude, you guys were two seconds from macking on each other while I was gone.” 

“Speaking of!” You piped up, “don’t you have one more delivery?” 

There was one final set of grocery bags on the table and both boys turned to look as if they had truly forgotten about the last stop. “I got it.” JJ announced, gripping the wheel and steering the boat toward an upcoming dock. He practically jumped out of the boat once it was docked, heading for the last house. 

“You really like him?” Pope asked once more when the two of you were left alone. 

“Yes, I already said yes.” You replied, watching for JJ to return. 

“For real though, like…JJ?” Pope repeated, trying to reason with the logical side of his brain. He’d known JJ for a while. He knew all the chaotic, backwoods, small town antics that JJ liked to get himself into. He knew that his friend was a top-notch thief, an always-ready-with-the-party drinker, and a habitual pot smoker. But never had he heard anyone talk about JJ in a way that leant to him being more than a side character, more than a summer antic or a drunk hookup. 

“Are you gonna keep asking me this?” You asked. 

“Another hundy!” JJ’s voice carried as he ran down the dock and jumped onto the boat. “Look at that baby.” He waved the hundred in your face and you laughed. 

“Dude, how’re you getting all the good tips?” Pope bitched. 

“Please, have you seen this face man? People love me.” JJ replied. He sat back down on the bench again, right beside you like he had before. 

“You’re a kook magnet, apparently.” Pope said, looking over at you. 

JJ shrugged, leaning back again to get some sun while Pope guided his father’s boat back towards the dock. You were squinting against the sun, listening to Pope tell you some bizarre facts about dead bodies, when you felt JJ’s arm stretch out behind you and rest against your shoulders. You looked over but he was still leaning against the back of the bench, eyes closed, though the smallest of grins was on his lips.

“That was really smooth,” you teased, voice lowered so Pope wouldn’t hear you. 

JJ cracked one eye open and turned his head to look at you, “yeah?” 

“Yeah.” You shifted over slightly, moving closer to him. His arm dipped, laying across your shoulders instead of just on the bench behind you. A beat passed as you’re eyes met his, blue as the sky. You reached up, lacing your fingers with his and keeping your eyes on him. “Yeah.”

JJ licked his lips and smiled at you and you were absolutely positive that one of you, or both of you, started to lean in. Until Pope cleared his throat and JJ was sitting up. He didn’t move his arm or let go of your hand. Instead his grip tightened and he pulled you against his body as he grabbed an empty beer can off the floor and tossed it at Pope’s head.

“Hey man!” Pope shouted, ducking his head to miss the beer can. You laughed, turned further into JJ’s side and pressing your mouth against his shoulder. His skin was warm from the sun and slightly burnt. Without thinking it through, you kissed his collar before pulling away enough to see his face. 

“Hey,” he was smiling at you. 

“Hi.”

“Dude, come on!” Pope groaned.

“Pope!” JJ shouted, “stop fucking cock-blocking me man, I’m trying to put my moves on her.” 

“Dude I am on the boat.” 

You laughed, wrapping your arms around JJ’s torso. You weren’t going to tell him, mainly because you were enjoying the amount of attention, he was paying you, but there was no need for ‘moves’ or trying to play it cool. JJ had your attention simply by existing. 

“Get off?” You suggested.

“Yeah,” JJ laughed. “Yeah, get off.” 

“Dude!” Pope grabbed the beer can that had been thrown at him and tossed it back at the two of you. JJ tried to move out of the way but instead pulled you with him, causing the beer can to hit you on the head. 

“Oh my god!” You laughed, trying to pull away from JJ but he kept you close to him. “That hit me you dick!” 

“Sorry!”

“Not you,” you clarified before turning to JJ and smacking his arm, “you!”

“Here I’ll kiss it, make it better.” He teased, trying to keep his grip on you as you pulled away from him. 

You managed to get out of his grip, running around to hide behind Pope when JJ got up to chase you. It was hard to believe, as he grabbed you around the waist at pulled you against him, kissing you’re neck and making his hat fall off in the process, that you had started the morning standing on the golf course with Topper listening to bullshit kook problems. This was so much better.


	4. Adore You - JJ Maybank/reader

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Request: Hi! I just saw that you are taking requests for Outer Banks. I was wondering if you would write one with prompt 62 with JJ?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Asthmatic reader. Mentions of faking an asthma attack.

You threw your empty water bottle, hitting JJ on the shoulder. It was you who had suggested the hang out but that didn’t change the fact that you were beyond bored. When you’d asked if he wanted to do something the other day he’d told you that he needed to work on his bike and that he wanted to do it while his dad wasn’t around. So you had offered your moral support in showing up with a cooler full of snacks and beer to spend the afternoon watching your boyfriend mess around with his dirt bike. 

“Did you throw that at me?” JJ asked, twisting around to look at you. The lower half of his face was obscured by a handkerchief and there was clear signs of grease in his hair.

“No…must have been the wind.” You lied, lolling your hammock gently from side to side as if to prove your wind claim. 

“Oh yeah? The wind?” He laughed. He came over to you, pulling his handkerchief down so you could see his face clearly, and gripped the fabric of the hammock. Without warning he started shaking the hammock back and forth and you grabbed onto the sides, trying to hold on.

“Oh my god!” You shrieked. An extra hard push sent you off-balance, the hammock flipping and sending you into the dirt beneath it. JJ backed up quickly, eyes wide and hands up in surrender. “JJ!”

You got off the ground, struggling to keep yourself untangled from the woven hammock. JJ watched as you got yourself to your feet. Mud caked onto your knees and your arms, down to your palms. You wiped your hands on your t-shirt as you walked towards JJ. He continued to back up though the smile he had on his face betrayed his attempt at looking apologetic for his actions.

“I swear to god JJ, I am going to kill you.” You shouted, chasing after him when he broke into a run. 

He zigzagged through his backyard, baiting you as he went with “you’re too slow” and “you’ll never catch me” shouted over his shoulder as he checked how close you were too him. Not very, you weren’t the best runner and his long legs had him gaining distance at a remarkable rate while you struggled to keep up. While you chased him you noticed your backpack sitting by the edge of the marsh. Finally you stopped, hands on your hips as sucked breathes in. 

Suddenly you leaned over, coughing and trying to breathe through it, practically forcing yourself to hyperventilate as you heard JJ come to a stop. “Hey? Hey, whoa, are you okay?” He ran back over to your side, hand on your back as he leaned down to try and see if you were alright. “What can I do?”

The first time you’d had an asthma attack you had been playing soccer with Pope in eighth grade gym class. You had collapsed from running too hard and struggled through breathes while the gym teacher called the ambulance. JJ referred to it as your ‘fight with death’ and your asthma always had him a little on edge, worried that you would be caught without your inhaler on one of their adventures.

“My inhaler.” You said the magic words, waving your arm in the direction of your bag. You. knew it probably wasn’t funny to fake an attack and the karma of it would most likely come back to bite you on your ass in the near future but there was no way you were going to catch JJ and you desperately wanted to get him back. 

He ran over to the backpack, crouching down to rummage through it as you stood up and took a few steadying breathes. You could do this. Walking as quietly as possible up behind you shoved your entire body against him, sending both of you into the Marsh as JJ shouted.

You surfaced first and then him, shaking his hair out and splashing you with it. “What the fuck?”

“Sorry…that you thought I wouldn’t get you back.”

“Unbelievable!” He laughed, swimming closer to you and sinking down to his shoulders in the water. “You’re such a snake.”

“Well now we’re even.” 

“Oh no way, I don’t think so.” JJ shot out quickly, grabbing you around the waist and throwing your body into the water. You surfaced, gasping for breath, and jumped on him, trying to dunk him. 

When you were kids you used to try and do wrestling tricks in the water. Body slams and elbow drivers and a host of other WWE moves that looked super flashy but were too dangerous for land. The dock in your backyard was the arena and Pope was always a commentator, unwilling to join in the “potentially life-threatening" action. John B and Kiara always wrestled too, like mini-tournaments. You still dunked each other on occasion or played the odd game of chicken in the ocean but there had been a turning point between seventh and eighth grade, before the asthma, that JJ stopped trying to throw you into the water and drown you for fun. He was suddenly concerned when you got scrapped knees riding bikes or when you broke your arm trying to do a flip off the swing John B had rigged over the marsh at the Chateau. 

It turned out that all that concern was just a sort of code. JJ liked you, something he told you at a party the first weekend back at school, freshman year. Your parents were away and the party was held at your house. JJ had gotten way too drunk and crashed there, sleeping in the Pogue with you. When you woke up he was throwing up over the side of the boat, still somewhat drunk, and the moment you sat next to him and started rubbing his back he told you he liked you. And tried to kiss you with vomit mouth, something you never let him live down. 

“JJ!” You screamed when he dove under the water, grabbing your legs and pulling you down below the surface. You thrashed in his arms until you finally broke free, swimming to the bank and pulling yourself onto the grass. Out of breath for real this time and laying on your back. 

“You need your inhaler?” JJ asked, pulling himself onto the bank beside you. If you tried to trick anyone else they probably would have freaked, especially Kiara or Pope. They would’ve warned you about asthma being super serious and not funny and how people would never believe you when you said you needed your inhaler if you acted like you did when you didn’t. JJ didn’t care about that crap. It was a funny joke and you’d gotten him, not totally fair and sqaure but you’d bested him this time around. 

You shook your head, “I’m good. I need a shower though.”

“Ah, you are in luck, the Maison de Maybank just got the water turned back on yesterday.”

“Damn, who knew I was dating a kook, living in luxury out here.” you teased. “Also, where did you learn any French at all?”

“Kiara used the phrase the other day.” He replied, turning his head so he could see you, smiling.

You sat up first and then stood, careful of the muddy bank. Your t-shirt and shorts were pretty much ruined until you could get home to wash them. With JJ watching you peeled off your clothes, leaving you in an almost neon bikini set that looked good with your complexion but that John B always teased you about. He claimed you looked like a traffic cone. 

You dropped your dirty clothes by your backpack and reached a hand out for JJ, “come on.”

“What are we doing?” He asked. Practically two years of dating and he still stared every time you were only in your bathing suit. 

“I want to take a shower.”

“And?”

“And…you should probably join me, ya know…to save water.” You replied, “I wouldn’t want Maison de Maybank using unnecessary funds on me.”

JJ’s eyes went wide and he smiled, eagerly leading the way inside, “come on!”

“Hey, what time did you tell the guys to meet you here? They aren’t gonna walk in or something are they?” You asked, letting JJ drag you along to the house.

“Nah, no, no way.” He shook his head, “I don’t know…no…we’ll be quick.”

“Dear god.”


	5. High - JJ Maybank/reader

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Request: First of all, I’m a big fan of your writing :)) do you write imagines based off of songs? If yes, maybe one based on High by 5 Seconds of Summer? With JJ from outer banks

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: So this is basically broken up into like different moments in the relationship between the reader and JJ.

Scarlett was droning on about something that Kelce had said to her as you stood by the drinks counter, waiting for the smoothies she had ordered. The spinach and mango, so she said, was amazing for complexion. While she talked your eyes scanned the lobby of the country club. You had a decent view of the dining room from where you were and you caught a glimpse of blond passing the doors just as you looked over. 

“So I told him it’s over with us.” 

“Yeah, I don’t blame you.” You replied, mindlessly, as you waited for the doors to the kitchen to open again.

“Sarah wants to go to Chapel Hill tomorrow but like, I don’t know, I just don’t think my head is in doing a day out. Like I just need to focus on putting myself back out there.” 

“Yeah…you should.” 

The kitchen doors opened and you smiled as you saw JJ walk out, server’s outfit on and carrying basin for the dishes under one arm. You pulled your phone out of your pocket and opened a text to him. 

-I can see you-

-stalker. do I look hot?- He replied. 

-I couldn’t tell-

JJ left the basin on an empty table and walked over to the dining room doors, looking across the lobby to see you at the juice counter. You smiled and winked at him before texting again.

-Oh yeah, super hot-

-God you’re so obsessed with me-

You bit your lip to stop from laughing and drawing Scarlett’s attention away from telling the girl behind the juice counter about her breakup. 

-It’s cause you’re so hot-

-you must feel so lucky I’m your boyfriend-

“What do you think?” Scarlett asked, turning to you.

“What?” You looked over at her, realizing too late that you had zoned out of the conversation for too long. You had no idea what she was asking. 

“I swear to god. First I can’t rely on Kelce and now you’re off in la la land fucking texting when I’m trying to talk to you. My therapist said that people just keep letting me down and it’s so true.”

“I’m sorry Scarlett, I’m not trying to ‘let you down’. Look, lets go do yoga okay? You’ll feel better. It’s bikram, we can sweat out all our problems.” You promised, grabbing your smoothie.

“Fine.” Scarlett nodded, grabbing her own smoothie and looking across the lobby. JJ was still in the doorway of the dining room, watching the both of you, and she frowned. “Ugh, I can’t stand these losers they employ.”

“What?” You looked over at JJ. He smiled and then disappeared back into the dining room. 

“Gross.” Scarlett muttered, linking her arm with yours and leading you away. 

-

“Come here,” JJ held his hand out for you as the boat slowed to a stop. You grasped his hand in yours and stepped off the dock, boarding the HMS Pogue. When you were safely on board he yanked on your hand to pull you against him, smiling when you gripped his shirt to keep yourself upright. “Hey.”

“Hi.” You barely got out a greeting as he leaned down and kissed you. It was still off-season, a little colder than usual, and JJ had his grey sweatshirt on. You were particularly fond of the sweatshirt, as stupid as it sounded. It was warm and soft and smelled like the flavored vape he was smoking. “I brought you present,” you said, once he had pulled away.

“Is the present alcohol?” He asked, smiling when you pulled away to grab the cooler and blanket that were still on the dock. “Oh my god, have I ever told you how perfect you are?”

“You are so full of shit Jay.” You laughed.

“So where are you right now?” He joked. Your mom had been urging you to date someone for almost a year now, talking about how your friends all seemed to be getting together and didn’t you want to have someone in your life like that. She didn’t know that you had been dating. You and JJ had been together for almost as long as she had been pestering you. 

Your friends didn’t know either. They had no idea that every time you blew off plans or disappeared for afternoons at a time you were meeting up with JJ. If they knew, if your parents knew, you’d probably be locked in your room, Rapunzel style. Being a kook meant that your parents had a lot of expectations for you and none of them involved you running around the outer banks with a boy like JJ. 

It didn’t matter that you were 100% positive that you loved him or that you had been thinking more and more about the future. All that would matter if your parents or your friends knew was that you were dating a Pogue. And, maybe worse than that, a Maybank.

“Oh, I’m at a campus visitation day in Chapel Hill. Checking out the college, you know.” You replied, sitting down on the bench while JJ guided the boat away from the dock. 

“How’s it looking?”

“The guys are way hotter than I thought they’d be.” You teased, smiling when he looked back at you. 

JJ’s friends knew about you. Countless days had been spent with Kiara and the guys at the Chateau or out on the marsh. They were all infinitely cooler than your own friends and you loved hanging out with them. You would trade being a kook for being a pogue in an instant if it meant never having to go to a stupid house party or listen to Topper’s bullshit ever again. You would have traded anything in the world for the chance to spend all day on the marsh with JJ. 

-

Midsummers was filled with stuffy old rich people and their families and, though you fell under that category, you were bored out of your mind. You’d topped off every drink at your parents’ table as they chatted mindlessly about OBX and weather and business. Your options for the evening were slim. Hang at the table and listen to the most boring conversations known to man or venture out to find Scarlett and Topper and Kelce. The party was in full swing and the air outside, even after the sun had set, was warm. You felt like your dress was sticking to you. 

“Mom, I’ll be right back.” 

“Sure hon.” Your mother waved you off as you headed inside the country club. At least it was air conditioned inside. 

You turned the corner by the stairs, heading for the locker room when some grabbed you. An arm around your waist and a hand pressed to your mouth. You almost screamed but the familiar sensation of cold metal mixed with warm skin told you exactly who the hand covering your mouth belonged to. 

JJ. 

He pulled you into the coat room, finally letting you go to switch on the light. 

“You gave me a heart attack. What the fuck?” You laughed, smacking his arm. 

“Sorry babe, you look fucking hot by the way.” 

“You’re so romantic.” You rolled your eyes at him but leaned in, kissing him anyway. You’d spent all day yesterday with your mom in Chapel Hill and all day today ‘preparing’ for midsummers. This was the first time in over 48 hours that you had seen JJ. 

As he kissed you back his hands went to your waist. He guided you back against the wall, laughing when you got ambushed by unnecessary coats. “Fuck.” 

“Come here.” He switched places with you and sat down on the ground, tugging on your hand to get you on the floor with him. You bunched the long skirt of your dress up to your thighs as you sat on his lap, knees scrapping against the scratchy fabric of the carpet. You were dead if you got caught and he was definitely fired. 

When he leaned in you put a hand on his chest to stop him, “Oh, by the way, I’m not doing it on the floor of the coat room.” 

“But this is so romantic.” He joked, kissing you.

“JJ, I’m serious.”

“Chill,” he held your face in his hands, meeting your eyes, “I just wanna mack on my super hot girlfriend.”

“God you have such a way with words.” You teased. 

“I missed you.”

“Missed you too.”

You kissed him, hands unbuttoning his vest and shirt despite what you had said. John B always joked that the two of you were all over each other and it was probably true. Whenever you were around JJ you just wanted to be as close to him as possible. You felt him suck in his stomach at the sensation of your hands running across his skin. You shifted, kissing his neck with the sole intention of getting him back for the hickey you had almost been grounded over. 

JJ leaned his head back against the wall, giving you more access. His hands found the zipper to your dress and you shrugging out of the top half of your off the shoulder lavender gown. You kissed your way up his throat to his chin and then all the sudden your mother’s voice could be heard right outside the coat room, calling your name, and JJ shot up, smacking his head against the bridge of your nose and sending you back on your ass.

“Oh my god!” you practically whined, holding your nose with one hand as you tried to fix your dress with the other. 

“Oh shit, shit, shit, shit. I’m so sorry.” JJ whispered, grabbing his bowtie and holding it out for you to use as a handkerchief so no blood would get on your dress. “Are you okay?”

“Help me with my dress?” You begged. 

JJ helped you stand up and then proceeded to fix your dress for you, straightening it out and helping you slip your arms in so he could zip it back up. The whole time he apologized profusely. Outside the door your mother called your name again. 

You walked over to the door, peeking out. She’d wandered far enough down the hall that you could sneak out. “Mom,” you called once you came out of the coat room. JJ stayed back, fixing his shirt and vest.

“Oh my god, honey, what happened to you?” 

“I was in the locker room and I banged my face on the door.” You lied, JJ’s bowtie still pressed to your nose. 

Your mom gaped at you until she caught sight of JJ over your shoulder. “You!” She called and he stopped dead in his tracks. 

“Uh, yeah?”

“Take my daughter to get cleaned up please.” She instructed, “go with him okay sweetie.”

“Okay.” You turned to look at JJ and smiled as you followed him to the kitchen. 

“Come right back out when you’re done!” Your mother called after you. 

-

The first time you had ever crossed paths with JJ he was just some kid from the cut. You had texted a friend about where to get the best weed and they had offered to give you their dealer’s number. You’d been surprised when the dealer turned out to be the same age as you. Cute, blond, tall, so high. You had seen JJ around before, his face was pretty familiar, but you didn’t really know him at all. And he might’ve remained just some kid from the cut if you hadn’t asked him to hang out that first day. 

“Hey, uh…I’ve never actually smoked before.” You admitted, playing with the blunt that he’d sold you. 

“It’s not hard.” He shrugged.

Your parents were out for the day and you were sitting on the dock with JJ. He’d come over on the HMS Pogue on his way to meet up with John B and Pope. You had looked nervous, standing on the dock waiting for him to show up. The first thing you’d said when he pulled up was that you. had never done a ‘drug deal’ before. He’d almost laughed out loud. 

“I just, my friends kinda ditched me for the afternoon cause my mom said I can’t go to Chapel Hill and I don’t want to seem super lame, like smoking by myself.” You explained. How sad would you be sitting around and smoking a blunt all alone while your friends went shopping. 

“Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone.”

“I mean…do you wanna hang out?”

“You wanna hang out with me?” JJ asked, even the haze of his high couldn’t convince him that was a normal request. 

“Yeah?” You shrugged. You’d never hung out with anyone from the cut before but you were bored and, if you were going to start ‘slumming it’ as Topper said, you might as well start with JJ. 

“Yeah okay, but I’m not giving you a discount.” 

“I don’t want a discount!” You laughed. 

-

The boneyard was crowded. Kooks, Tourons, Pogues. Everyone was there for a beginning of the summer party. You had donated the keg money after JJ spent his portion of the cost on weed. Kiara had almost lost it on him when you offered to give them the full amount. Still, you didn’t get to show up with them to the beach or even hang out with them. You were standing around with Kelce and Scarlett as they tried to draw everyone into their argument about who was ‘over’ who. You scanned the party, sipping on your beer as you looked for your boyfriend.

“Hey,” 

You looked back as someone pressed a hand against your back. Rafe. 

“Hey Rafe.” You side stepped out his touch. 

“What’s up, I haven’t seen you around much this summer.” He said, catching your friends’ attention.

“I think she’s got a secret boyfriend.” Scarlett piped up, “she’s always texting and canceling on plans. Took me weeks to get her to go to yoga with me.”

“I’ve been busy.” You replied. Across the way you saw JJ and John B getting beers. You watched your boyfriend adjust his red cap as he looked around. You could only hope he was looking for you. 

“Too busy to hang?” Rafe draped an arm around your shoulders and tried to draw you into his side.

“Obviously if you haven’t seen me around.” You replied, pulling away again. “I need a refill.”

“I’ll come with you.” 

You rolled your eyes as you walked down toward the keg, Rafe following on your heels. If there was anything that you hated about parties it was Rafe Cameron hanging around you. Kiara nodded to you as you approached them, tossing your old cup into the makeshift trash can she had set up to recycle. 

“Hey,” JJ smiled when he saw you.

“Hey, can I grab a beer?” 

“I’ll get one too man,” Rafe announced, his arm around your shoulders again. 

You pulled away once more, “seriously Rafe, get off.”

“Chill out.” He reached out for you, trying to grab your arm. 

JJ shoved him away, “she told you get off her man.” 

You shook your head at him, urging him silently to let it go. He knew that Rafe always bothered you because you’d told him about it countless times. But you didn’t want any trouble tonight. It was supposed to be a chill kegger and you had every intention of sneaking off early with JJ, which wouldn’t happen if he got into it with Rafe now. 

“Stay out of it Pogue.” Rafe tried to look intimidating, stepping up to get in JJ’s face.

“Guys, Rafe, come on.” You pulled on his arm and nodded back toward your group, waiting and watching to see if they needed to intervene. 

Just as Rafe turned to leave JJ spit a mouthful of beer at him, coating you too, and everything went to chaos. Rafe swung at him and JJ tackled him to the ground, throwing punches. John B pushed Kiara and Pope out of the way as Kelce, Topper, Scarlett, and Sarah ran over to see what was happening. As Rafe got his footing again people started to gather around in a circle. 

“JJ!” You shouted as Rafe punched him. 

“Come on,” John B grabbed your arm, pulling you toward him, “stay out of the way.”

“You filthy fucking Pogue.” Rafe shouted, “I’m gonna kill you.”

“Dude, come on, it’s not worth it.” Topper urged, trying to grab Rafe’s arm.

“Fucking try you pussy.” JJ was quick to bait Rafe, dodging a punch and then getting him with a right hook in the stomach. 

With Rafe on the ground John and Pope grabbed JJ, dragging him away from the fight as Topper helped Rafe to his feet. Kiara looked over at you when Scarlett called for you to follow them back to their side of the boneyard. You looked back to where John B was pulling JJ along the beach. 

“Where are you going?” Scarlett called when you took off in JJ’s direction. 

You ignored her, running over and stepping in their path, hands immediately going to JJ’s face. You brushed hair away from his eyes as he looked away from you. 

“I don’t wanna hear it.” He said.

“Too bad.” 

JJ pulled away and crossed his arms over his chest, looking down at the ground before he met your eyes. “I don’t need you to bitch me out, those guys are assholes, I’m sorry you’re friends with them but I’m not going act like they aren’t all dicks.” 

“I’m not gonna bitch you out.” You said. 

“What?”

“I’m not gonna bitch you out. Rafe’s a dick.”

“Then what do you want?” He asked, scuffing his foot in the sand.

You shrugged, “to make sure my boyfriend is okay? To tell him I love him.”

JJ bit his lip, smiling at you. Maybe it was the alcohol or the adrenaline from the fight but you thought that his eyes looked a little glassy as he looked at you. “Yeah?”

“Yeah.” 

“I love you too.” He reached out for you, pulling you close so that he could kiss you. He stopped just short, resting his forehead against yours, “you sure, cause I’m about to mack on you in front of everyone.”

“I was so hoping you would.”


	6. Casted - JJ Maybank/reader

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Request: Idk if you’re taking requests but could you do 62 & 59 for JJ just like super flirty and cutesy

“This is the worst day ever.” You muttered, sitting on the gurney in the emergency room. 

To be fair, the day hadn’t started out bad. It’d been alright, even considering your move down to the pogue side of the beach when you realized that every tourist in the outer banks had decided to congregate on your side. The kook side. The beach was the same but every yelp review in history warned against the beach on the cut so it was no surprise on a perfectly sunny day that every family on vacation in North Carolina had showed up to spend the day terrorizing your beach. 

You weren’t sure what the first inkling of the day going downhill was but you suspected it started when some kid playing with a frisbee had asked if you wanted to join him. He’d hit you with it in the middle of sunbathing but he was hardly ten and you weren’t going to bitch him out for an accident. Though you definitely wanted to bitch him out for forcing you to go into the ocean to get it the second time he threw it too far. 

That was when all the bad luck started. Because JJ Maybank had been riding a wave in and you were too far out and then he was hitting you with his board and his body, nearly drowning both of you. 

Maybe that was an exaggeration but you weren’t in the ER for nothing. 

“I can’t complain.” JJ piped up. He was slumped in a chair, throwing M&Ms from the vending machine into his mouth. 

After he had ‘rescued’ you from the ocean he had driven you to the hospital because of your wrist. His board had hit you, sending you under and somewhere in the accident you’d managed to. break your wrist. You had small abrasions on your legs and arms from the ocean floor. JJ, naturally, was unscathed. 

“You’ve scarred me for life.”

“You’re so dramatic. It’s a fucking brush burn…you could’ve put antiseptic on it.” 

“I have a fractured wrist you moron.” You held up your arm, showing off the light blue cast that you’d gotten. “God JJ, thank you for ruining my whole fucking summer.”

He stopped throwing M&Ms, sitting up straighter in the chair and raising his eyebrows at you. He looked surprised and he was. Sure John B worked on kook boats for money and he’d done a few odd jobs himself but he didn’t think he was on a first name basis with any of the kooks. If anything he was just John B’s friend. 

“What?” You asked, “why are you looking at me like that?”

JJ shook his head but the smirk that formed had you frowning. 

“What?”

“Nothing.” 

“Fantastic.”

You kicked your feet back and forth, waiting for the nurse to come back in with the release papers so that you could go home. You were tired as it was from the sun and being out all day, getting injured and sitting in the waiting room of the ER for two hours before they fixed your wrist had completely exhausted you. JJ had resumed throwing M&Ms into his mouth and you watched him, out of boredom, if any one was to ask. Truth be told you’d seen him around with John B on multiple occasions and had even ‘accidentally’ forgot to tie up your boat once when he was helping your dad’s landscaping crew just to see him dive into the marsh. It had been well worth the cut in your allowance to see JJ undress down to his shorts. 

“Why are you looking at me like that?” JJ asked and you blinked to clear your head.

“How do you do that?”

“Eat M&Ms?”

“Throw them into your mouth and catch them…I have terrible hand eye coordination.” You mentioned. 

“Here.” JJ picked one out of the bag and tossed it at you, laughing when it hit your forehead and fell to the ground. 

“I can’t catch it from all the way over there.” You complained, “hand me the bag.”

“No, they’re my M&Ms.”

“That I paid for.”

“I drove you to the hospital.”

“You hit me with your surfboard. I’m in the hospital because of you.” You replied, holding your good hand out for him to put the bag in. 

“You’re fine.”

“I have a broken wrist! I’ve never broken anything before.” 

“Are you serious?” He laughed like it was the craziest thing he’d ever heard that you had gone through life uninjured.

“Yes. I once fell out of a tree and sustained no injury but you hit me with your surfboard and I’m in a cast!”

“What were you doing on our side of the beach anyway?” JJ asked.

“Too many tourists on my side.” 

The nurse came back into the room with the papers and you signed them, suddenly realizing, as JJ stood up and slipped the pack of candy into his pocket, that you would be parting ways. He’d given up prime waves and most of his afternoon to sit in the hospital with you and no doubt now that you were mostly fixed, he would go back to his friends. 

You hopped down off the gurney once the nurse was gone and felt the M&M from earlier crunch under your sandals. “Can you give me a ride home?” 

-

“They use a saw dad, a saw!” You exclaimed, standing in the kitchen and staring at your father in disbelief as he explained that he couldn’t go with you to the hospital. Your arm was healed and it was time for the cast to come off and he expected you to go alone.

“You’ll be fine. You aren’t a little kid, you don’t need me to coddle you.”

“Some moral support would be nice.” 

“Well lets see, do you enjoy driving around in your car-”

“Oh my god.”

“Because you don’t get nice things like that if I don’t go to work.” 

“Okay, whatever, I’ll go myself. Thank you for your overwhelming concern.” You rolled your eyes at him as he tuned you out to get back to work. 

You thought about calling Sarah and asking her to go with you when you walked outside and caught sight of JJ at the end of the dock. He looked like he was cleaning your father’s boat; either way you headed down the long dock toward him. While you had seen him around since the accident it wasn’t like getting handicapped by his board had brought you closer. Though you had spent an awful lot of time perfecting your hand-eye coordination and could now successfully throw M&Ms in your mouth. Not a useful life skill but you’d been waiting for the opportunity to show him. 

He’d signed your cast that first day, after he’d driven you home and you’d invited him inside. He had also swiped a six pack of beer and a bottle of vodka but you didn’t mention that part to anyone. Instead, when your dad asked who had driven you home, you forged a story about JJ Maybank, kind Samaritan who had seen you injury yourself and taken you to the hospital. It was vaguely true and in return for his exceptional kindness your dad had been paying him under the table to do odd jobs around the house and yard. 

“JJ!”

“Uh, hey. You’re dad asked me to clean the boat.” He explained, leaning over the side to talk to you.

“Could you drive me to the doctor’s? I’m supposed to get my cast off today.”

“Can’t you take yourself?” He asked, going back to work. You boarded the boat, sitting on the side and watching him. 

“They use a saw to cut the cast off.”

“Yeah.”

You frowned, “I guess I can.” 

JJ looked over at you and sighed, shaking his head, “give me ten minutes.”

You clapped your hand against your wrist and hopped up, hugging him. “Thank you. I’ll show you my amazing new M&M throwing skills.” You offered. 

“I can’t wait.” He laughed, patting your back awkwardly. 

You pulled away from him and sat back down on the side to wait, “the first thing I’m going to do when I take this off is jump in the ocean.” 

“You’re so dramatic.” 

“I’m dramatic? I didn’t pull a gun on Topper.” You pointed out. You hadn’t been to the party because it was your mom’s weekend on the mainland but you had heard about it through word of mouth. 

“He was drowning John B.”

“I know, I heard.” You had heard the whole story from Kiara at the country club the weekend after. You’d heard the kook version from Scarlet through a series of misspelled, all caps, texts. “My dad thinks it was a fake gun by the way.”

“What?”

“I told my dad it was like an air gun or whatever.” You said. Your dad wanted to fire him when he heard the news from Ward Cameron about a kid with a gun. Through a series of very loud conversations that, at one point, resulted in you calling your mom to pick you up early, you had convinced your dad that JJ was actually innocent and he should continue to hire him for jobs.

“He bought that?”

“Yeah…now, cast time?” 

“Cast time.”

-

After taking a series of yoga classes with your mom to ‘strengthen your wrist’ as if you’d suffered some traumatic experience that required physical therapy, you had discovered that you didn’t hate the meditative exercise. You especially didn’t hate doing yoga out on the patio whenever JJ was around. Mowing the lawn, cleaning the pool, fixing the electrical wiring on the patio lamps, it didn’t matter what time of day he was around, if you saw him outside you were right there, announcing loudly that you were going to do yoga. 

It was calming. At least it was calming when you weren’t hyperaware of looking not stupid in front of JJ. Not that he was paying attention to whether you were executing a pose correctly. More so he was just trying not to get distracted by you. Your dad had told you not to be outside when people were working in the lawn. Not because he was even remotely aware of the way JJ stared at you but because he was afraid of you getting in the way. 

His warning felt stupid until, two weeks into your slow torture, JJ was mowing the lawn in the backyard and a rock shot out of the mower and hit you. It was a small rock, almost a pebble. But it still sliced your skin.

“Fuck!” You had screamed and he had heard it over the mower, cutting the engine and rushing over to you. Sitting on your yoga mat you were holding your hand against your forehead, blood on your hand and face. 

“Holy shit, what happened?” JJ asked, crouching down in front of you and pulling your hand away.

“No!” You fought him on it, trying to keep your hand on your forehead.

“Please, I have to look at it.”

“I think it was a rock,” you explained, looking around the patio for the offending stone. 

JJ grabbed your face holding it in place as he stared at the cut on your forehead. He was so close you could feel his breath on your skin. He let you go with one hand and brought it up to your forehead, carefully pressing his fingers to the skin around the cut. You distracted yourself from the pain, staring at him as he looked you over.

“Do you have a first aid kit?” 

“In the upstairs bathroom.” You replied, your voice starting to waver as the pain set in and your eyes started to tear up. 

“Hey, hey, its okay. You’re okay.” JJ promised, helping you to your feet and leading you into the house. You took him into your bathroom and took the first aid out of the cabinet. You sat on the counter and waited while he rummaged around the kit for the antiseptic and a bandage. “I think we’re jinxed.”

“Why because you keep trying to kill me?” You asked, smiling at him. 

“I’m hardly trying to kill you.” He replied, “here, this is gonna hurt.” He pressed the alcohol-soaked cotton ball to your forehead to clean the wound and you bit your lip, trying not to full on cry in front of him. JJ rubbed his free hand across your back in circles, offering words of encouragement as he cleaned the wound and applied a bandage to it. 

“Thank you.” 

“No problem,” he cleaned up the bathroom while you stayed sitting on the counter, watching him, “sorry about hitting you in the head. I thought I cleared the yard before I started.”

“It’s okay, I shouldn’t’ve been doing yoga outside.” You shrugged. Your dad had seemingly won this argument, he’d be thrilled to find out. 

JJ nodded his head rapidly, unsure what else to say. You couldn’t really say that you were friends with him. Developed even more of a crush on than you thought you were capable of, sure. But not quite friends just yet. You saw him when he came to your house to work or at the occasional crossover party on at the boneyard. 

“Hey, JJ?” You asked, drawing his attention. 

“Yeah?” He always looked surprised when you called him by name or mentioned something that he had mentioned to you. “Why are you looking at me like that?” He asked. 

“I heard Kiara say there is a no pogue-on-pogue macking rule.” You mentioned.

“Yeah…” He hadn’t smoked nearly enough to be tripping but he definitely felt like he was as he tried to figure out where you were going with this line of questioning. 

“What’s the rule for macking on kooks?” You asked.

JJ licked his lips, an easy smirk appearing as he stopped putting away the first aid kit in favor of stepping over to where you were still sitting on the counter. “I mean, depends on the kook.”

“Makes sense.” You nodded, “What about-”

JJ cut off your next question, his hand going to the back of your neck as he drew you into a kiss. You kissed back, pulling him as close as possible so that he was standing between your legs. He deepened the kiss, tongue brushing against your lower lip. He tasted like the blunt he’d smoked before work. Your hands moved to his sides, trying to push his t-shirt up so that you could take it off when you heard the front door slammed. 

Your father shouted up the stairs and you pushed JJ away immediately, hoping off the counter and going to the bathroom door to peer out. When you heard your dad’s footsteps on the stairs you turned back and shoved JJ into the shower, pulling the curtain shut. “Just, stay there.” You requested, fixing your clothes and hair as you stepped out of the bathroom, shutting the door behind you. “Hey dad.”

“There you are. That Maybank kid left the mower sitting on the back lawn.” 

“Oh yeah, I think he said he had to run an errand or something about a part.” You rambled, “I don’t know.”

“Alright…were you taking a shower?” He asked and you realized the water in the bathroom was running. 

“Oh yeah, yoga really wore me out.” 

“I’ll be in my office.” 

“Okay,” you waited until he was down the stairs again before you slipped back into the bathroom. Sure enough JJ’s clothes were in a heap on the floor. “I’m sorry what are you doing?” 

The curtain moved enough for JJ to stick his head out and he smiled at you. “I wanted to take a shower. You have wall jets.” 

“I know.” 

“You should join me, save some water.” He offered, raising his eyebrows and grinning.

“Are you out of your mind.” You whispered, “I’m not jumping in the shower with you JJ.”

“Suit yourself, the jets are amazing.”

“I know they are…it’s my house.” You replied, “which means I can shower whenever I want.”

“Yeah but ya know…we use so much water when we shower and we’ve only got one earth.” JJ said, repeating things he’d heard Kiara say a million times.

“You’re literally the worst.” 

“You’re saying that to me but I wasn’t the one who was all ‘oh JJ, you’re so hot’-”

“I fucking didn’t say that, you moron.” You laughed, “finish your shower, I’m hungry and I wanna get dinner with you.”

“Are you sure you don’t wanna join me? There are wall jets.”

“So you’ve said.” You replied, pulling yourself back up on the counter to wait him out.


	7. Unafraid - JJ Maybank/reader

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Request: Could you do a JJ imagine with prompt 81(I’m stronger than I look) where somebody attacks the reader and she kinda fights them off/manages to escape and JJ finds her and he gets really worried, to which she responds like I’m stronger than I look? Also where they both have a think for each other but neither of them has admitted their feelings yet? :)

You shouldn’t have been there. You could hear Kiara’s voice in your head telling you that this was not your problem and you shouldn’t have to do this. You were sixteen, you were supposed to be having fun, enjoying summer ‘pogue style’ and not giving a shit about anything. Spending all day every day with your friends but instead you had blown off plans to surf for this. In the aftermath of it you were standing at the end of Barry’s driveway, five thousand dollars poorer than you had been in the morning, hands shaking from adrenaline, and the very beginnings of a black eye forming. There was some kind of remedy for a black eye. You couldn’t remember what it was but you remembered that it existed, some weird vegetable or something that you could put on your face to reduce the bruising. 

The total amount that your older brother owed to Barry was somewhere in the ballpark of ten thousand. He and his girlfriend had been had been running a tab that Barry finally decided needed to be settled which was where you fit in to the entire story. You were in hot shit with your brother after you called DCS on him and his girlfriend, hoping they would intervene in your niece’s life and find her a different family, a better family, to take care of her. But the DCS agent wasn’t nearly as committed as John B’s and your niece fell through the gaping crack at the agency, landing her back with your brother who still owed the ten thousand to Barry. 

“You’ve got money saved up, I know you do.” Your brother had insisted when he came to you for ‘help’. Really it was extortion. You wanted to see your niece again? Give them the money to pay Barry. 

“I’ll give him half.”

But nobody told you that wasn’t the plan. And Barry had been pissed when you showed up with five thousand instead of ten. It was what they agreed on but you wouldn’t have another five thousand until the end of the summer.

“By then they gonna owe me fifteen. Ya see how the circle keeps going?” Barry had explained, hand on the back of your neck and face too close to yours for any sense of comfort. “I want my other five now.”

“I don’t have it now.” You insisted, realizing too late that you had been played by your brother once again. 

“Well than how you gonna pay me?” 

You had walked to Barry’s and you walked home, black eyed but otherwise unscathed physically. There had been enough opportunities for fighting in your house growing up that you weren’t completely helpless and you kept reminding yourself that you were okay, tougher than you thought you were, unafraid of someone like Barry as you walked home carrying your sandals in your hands. 

Your niece was at your house with your mom for however long your brother and his girlfriend decided to check themselves out from reality and you changed your direction when you heard the baby cry through the screen door. But you’d been gone longer than usual on a day when you were supposed to hang out so you should’ve known better than to come home first. 

“Hey,” JJ’s voice cut passed the crying. For someone who was so loud he was truly quiet when he wanted to be. 

“Hey,” You turned around and came down the steps. He was standing on your front lawn with his hands in his pockets. 

“Holy shit, what happened to your eye?” JJ asked, coming right up to you and placing his hand on your face, thumb running beneath the bruise. 

“You should see the other guy.” You teased, pulling away from him and crossing your arms under your chest. 

JJ, at least to anyone who didn’t know him well enough, was not the type of guy that people confided deep personal secrets in. Maybe John B or Pope but not JJ. He didn’t seem like the trustworthy, compassionate, hold-you-when-you’re-crying friend but you knew him well enough. And he knew all about your brother and the DCS case and all the shit you’d put up with in the last few years since your mom let him be part of your lives again. It wasn’t John B or Pope that you confided in, you hadn’t even told Kiara, but JJ knew. 

“Hey, I’m serious. Did something happen with your brother?” 

“It’s okay, I’m stronger than I look.” You snapped back. 

“I didn’t say you weren’t. What happened?”

You shook your head, fully prepared to reveal nothing and continue your narrative about being okay. Strong. Unscathed, except for the black eye. But as you shook your head you could feel yourself getting more and more worked up. You could blame it on the walk home or the physical exertion of fighting with Barry or the exhaustion of dealing with your brother. It was most likely a combination of all three. All you knew was that you started to cry right there on your front lawn with JJ watching you. 

It wasn’t the first time that he saw you cry though the last time you had been incredibly high and your tears were due to the revelation that the beach was really really pretty. Now you were completely sober and still you couldn’t keep the tears at bay. JJ reached out for you, pulling you against him. He held you, one hand on your back and the other smoothing your hair as he promised that you were going to be okay. A cliché promise from anyone else but you had no problem believing him. 

“You’re okay, it’s okay.” 

“My brother told Barry he’d pay him ten grand, I don’t…I could only give him five.” You cried. “And he…he wanted me to…”

JJ shushed your rambling, continuing to rub circles on your back as you cried. You had your arms around his torso, squeezing maybe a little too tight but he seemed unbothered as he tried to get you to stop crying.

“Just think, when we find that gold you won’t have to deal with this shit. You can take your half and just, fuck off out of here.”

“I’m not gonna leave the OBX, don’t be stupid.” You mumbled against his shirt.

JJ smiled, kissing the side of your head, “my bad.”

“I’m not weak.”

“I know.”

“I feel weak…” you admitted, “I was so scared.”

“Hey,” JJ pulled away enough to look at you, holding your face in his hands, “you aren’t weak. You’re right, you’re stronger than you look. Whatever happened with Barry…you did that on your own and you walked out on your own too.” 

You nodded, a little awkward his hands on your face but you didn’t mind. JJ kissed your forehead and then hugged you again, “it’ll be okay.” He repeated, a promise he had every intention of keeping.


	8. Ocean - JJ Maybank/reader

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Request: Hey I’m obsessed with your writing, if you get a chance can you write something about JJ based on the song only the ocean by Jack Johnson

The beach was empty this late at night in the middle of the week. Void of parties and people. You were laying down on a blanket, pillow behind your head, as you gazed up as the stars. It was cold out this close to the ocean at night and JJ was sitting up beside you, smoking. You burrowed further into your hoodie and turned your head to watch him. The stars were clear but you favored a more earthbound view. He’d promised you an especially good trip that had ended up being you watching him smoke the blunt you paid for. John B always joked that JJ was persuasive and that was what made him so able to sell people on things but you were pretty sure that all he needed to do was ask you to do something and you would. 

“I wish I could just go out there sometimes and never come back in.” JJ mentioned, watching the ocean tide. He’d brought his board for night surfing but so far he hadn’t left the shore. 

“Like adrift style or little mermaid style?” You asked. JJ as a mermaid was an oddly appealing thought and you hadn’t even smoked. 

“Uh, neither?”

“Moana?”

“Yeah, I wish I was a Hawaiian Disney princess sailing around the ocean on a wooden raft to restore the heart of the sea.” JJ remarked sarcastically. 

You smiled. “I think I would prefer you as the mermaid.” 

“I’m being serious ya know…I want to just load up a boat and go.” JJ replied. 

“I would be too scared.” You admitted. Not that he ever would, you thought, but if he asked you to go with him you’d push that fear aside. You’d let him teach you how to surf last summer when he offered just to spend time with him despite the near crippling fear you had of the sport. You weren’t good at it but sometimes he called you up to surf and it was just the two of you and it was worth all the anxiety. 

“That’s not very pogue of you.” JJ teased. 

“Sorry I’m not fearless like you guys.” You snarked but you smiled up at him to let him know you weren’t bothered by the comment. 

JJ resumed looking out at the ocean, waves picking up and the breeze making you grateful you’d trudged out here to meet him with jeans on. You’d come out once in shorts and nearly frozen. While JJ watched the tide you watched him, even with only the moon as a light source you could see him clearly. He talked about the ocean a lot when you smoked together on the beach. It was always the same conversation once the weed had really settled, that he wanted to sail out to sea and live there away from everything. You thought he’d get homesick, at least of Kiara and John B and Pope. You wondered if he told them about the master plan or if he saved it for moments like this. If it was some brilliant secret between the two of you or if it was just another thing he said. 

“I wouldn’t mind getting a little lost.” You finally said. You’d never said it before. Always asked how long he would go away for, where he would go, what he’d do when he got there. But you never talked about going anywhere yourself. Sometimes you told him that you never wanted to leave the outer banks, something he teased you about because the cut was a junkyard. 

Except that you didn’t mean you wanted to go away. You had no plans to disappear in the future. You didn’t want to get lost out at sea, alone. Not when you had such an easy time getting lost right here on dry land, laying on a blanket, watching JJ smoke weed. You got lost in him frequently though he remained oblivious to your predicament. It was what made you such a lousy surfer and a major reason that you didn’t spend every waking moment of summer with the four of them. You hung out sometimes in a group but usually you only saw JJ when you asked him to score you weed and then pretended not to notice when he smoked the entire joint himself. Without anyone else around there was no one to notice you zone out. 

He wanted to get lost out in the tide somewhere and you were all too familiar with the feeling of being pulled under the waves because every time you looked at him you felt like you were diving into the deep end of a pool. He was easy to get lost in and you craved the feeling of it because no one could make fun of you for having such an obvious crush on someone so obviously out of your league when it was just the two of you alone.

“You can come on my boat.” He offered, blowing smoke out through his mouth and nose as he spoke.

“What a generous offer.” You laughed, sitting up. “I think we should head in soon.”

JJ nodded, drawing squiggles in the sand, “your parents home?” 

“Yeah but you can come in through the kitchen, they’ll be asleep by now.” You offered. It wasn’t so unusual for JJ to sleep over your house on nights when you smoked together. He came over so often, in fact, that you kept a sleeping bag under your bed for him. With the invitation accepted JJ stood up and started to pack the food he’d brought. Most of it had been picked over. You folded up the blanket and tucked the pillow under your arm, the nighttime picnic over until the next time you wanted to pretend that you smoked. Which you knew would be soon because you could never stay away from JJ, just like he could never stay away from the ocean.


	9. Ocean pt. 2 - JJ Maybank/reader

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A continuation of Ocean, written with the song Water by Caroline Pennell in mind.

Every time you did this it felt the same. The same beach, the same midnight air, the same view. Millions of stars in the sky, dark waves lapping up the sand, and the most beautiful boy you’d ever seen sitting beside you, smoke dancing in the air around him. It all looked the way it was supposed to look, sounded the way it was supposed to sound. JJ was talking about something but it sounded far away from you. A memory you were having of this exact moment in time but not the actual moment. It was a bad trip but you hadn’t even been smoking. Everything was the same except you. 

Usually you met him at the top of the beach, backpack full of snacks and a twenty to pay for the weed he would smoke even though you had asked. The same routine every time you called him for the last three years. But then he got to the beach right before midnight like you had agreed upon ages ago and you weren’t there waiting for him on the bench at the top of the beach. You’d already laid a blanket out and you were down near the ocean, just far enough in that the tide licked your bare feet when it came up to meet the sand. 

“What’re you doing?” He called down the beach to you as he tossed his bag down and lit up, he had stopped pretending like you were going to smoke with him and he wasn’t really sure why you hadn’t stopped. 

You could only shake your head. It was all the same but you. There was a difference in the carefulness of your steps as you walked up to meet him and you wondered if he could tell, if he paid enough attention to you to tell when something was wrong. He looked the same, blond and blue-eyed, the same bracelets, rings, and necklace. The same easy posture as he relaxed from the joint. You were always quiet. In the beginning you had told him that the weed made you contemplative but now he knew that you were just quiet. That words had to be extracted from you with the most delicate of phrases. If he didn’t ask the question just right he’d never hear a sound from you. 

Sometimes he let it go, he smoked enough that the silence stopped bothering him and he could relax, watch the ocean ahead of him and get lost in his own head. But that was only when he was here, at midnight, on the beach with you. When he saw you at parties you aggravated him, when he saw you around the Cut it drove him a little crazy. He couldn’t explain the feeling. It was like watching the ocean on a calm day. No wind, just water, calm and still and deeper than he could fathom. Without the waves it offered nothing. Too vast for him to navigate, to deep for him to wade out without something to push him back to shore. When it was midnight on the beach there wasn’t anything he wanted from you, or from the ocean. It was all the other times when he looked for the push back, when he wanted you to offer him the smallest of waves but got nothing. 

“I’m going to Columbia.” You finally said, after what felt like hours drawing in the sand while JJ laid on the blankets, staring at you. He felt a little hazy from the weed and he thought maybe he shouldn’t have smoked earlier with Kiara before coming here. 

A wave crashed over him when he wasn’t expecting a tide.

“What?”

“In two months, I’m moving up to New York, I got accepted to Columbia.” You explained.

He was caught in it, spinning, drowning, he couldn’t find a board. He’d waited three years for push back, for a tide to come in, and now it had caught him off guard. “What?” He didn’t know what else to say. 

Everything was always the same. You met at the top of the beach, sandals in hand, always in shorts and a hoodie that advertised some obscure band or another. You must’ve had a million of them. You always complained that it was too cold but you never wore jeans, always shorts. Once he gave you his sweatshirt because you forgot yours and when you returned it three days later it smelled like cinnamon. It was the essential oil in the handmade dryer sheets you used. He slept on it until the smell disappeared and thought about you too much. He smoked the joint that you bought and whenever he tried to pass it you always told him you’d had plenty, as if you’d had any at all. 

He didn’t ask you about personal stuff. He didn’t even know where on the Cut you lived. He’d just smoked and talked about getting lost in the ocean and imagined getting lost in you and how was he supposed to do that if you were leaving? The waves rushed away and he was left on the sand, with a sky that looked clear as the water and why couldn’t he breathe?

“You can’t leave.”

“I have to go to college.” You shrugged, drawing your knees up to your chest. You were talking, you were giving him so much and he wanted to listen to your voice forever. 

“There’s a college at Chapel Hill.” 

“I’ll still buy weed from you at Christmas.”

This wasn’t about weed. He’d been floating out on the surface of your ocean for years, not entirely sure where he was going, waiting for the waves to take him to shore, and now that they had he wanted to go back out. He could live out there, he could set up camp on this beach with you if it meant spending more time navigating the ocean with you. He would never complain about the silence and the calm waters again. 

“I don’t care about that. You’re gonna be like, thousands of miles away.” 

Every time you did this it felt the same, like you were losing yourself. Not drowning, you weren’t out of control, you were just coasting. You were letting yourself fall so far into someone else that you could forget yourself for a little while and it felt nice. But it couldn’t feel nice forever. 

“So much for getting lost together.” JJ finally said, that ache to hear you talk to him was back. He wanted you to say something, he needed to get back in the water. 

“I have two months left, we could take a boat out.” You smiled, “Moana style?”

“Yeah.” 

“I’m sorry.” 

“Don’t be,” JJ shook his head, sitting up, “you deserve to go somewhere incredible.” 

“You could always sail your boat up to New York.” You suggested, watching him. It was too dark to see the blue of his eyes but you knew them well enough to see the ocean in them. 

“I’ll have to.”


	10. Ulysses - JJ Maybank/reader

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Request: hi! i’ve never asked on tumblr before but i love your blog so i thought i’d give it a shot :) i love all of your obx imagines! could i please request something with jj where it’s just really fluffy and cute and general good vibes! i totally understand if not and i’m so sorry if requests are closed i’m still new to all of this! thank you so much xx

“Give me like…I don’t know, what do you talk about when you’re flirting with a girl?” JJ asked, standing beside Pope and Kiara outside the small beach front bookshop. He kept pulling on the straps of his backpack and then loosening them. 

“When has Pope flirting with a girl ever worked in his favor?” Kiara teased. 

“Thanks a lot Kie.”

“Well like,” JJ sucked on his vape, trying to calm himself down, “what do smart people talk about?”

“Can I ask why we’re here?” 

JJ had texted Kiara and Pope that he had an emergency and needed them ASAP. Both of them had rushed through getting dressed and gotten all the way to the address he had given them only to realize JJ was standing outside of the bookshop. It wasn’t three weeks ago that, at a party on the beach, he’d seen you. JJ knew you from school, he’d seen you in classes. Once in ninth grade when everyone had to give presentations in front of the whole class he’d sat in the back listening to you talk about America in the 1960’s and told John B that he was going to date you. It never happened but he’d had a crush on you since then. And when he saw you at the party he thought it was some kind of crazy fate. He’d tried every dumb party trick he usually did and whatever jokes he could possibly think of but nothing seemed to work. You laughed but not in the way that suggested you were remotely interested in him or thought he was cool. And then yesterday he’d seen you in the window of the bookshop by chance when he was headed down to meet up with John B. 

“Her.” JJ pointed to where you sat behind the counter, reading. 

“I’m sorry, you called us down here to stalk some girl?” Kiara laughed. 

“You don’t get it Kie, I pulled out all the stops last time I saw her and she was totally uninterested.”

“What’d she say?” 

“Nothing really,” JJ replied. “It was what she didn’t say.”

“Invite her on the Pogue or something.” Pope offered.

“Do something, we look like creepy stalkers.” Kiara said, grabbing Pope’s sleeve and yanking him to the side just as you looked up, “JJ!” 

JJ’s usual fight or flight instinct seemed to malfunction when you looked up. He just froze, standing there with his vape hanging out of his mouth, staring at you with wide eyes. You looked startled for a minute before you offered him a wave. You remembered the party on the beach, he’d been funny and you had thought that he’d been interested but then he’d gone to refill his cup and never come back. Now he was standing outside the bookshop you worked in, looking like a deer caught in headlights.

“JJ!” Kiara hissed. She stood just out of view with Pope. “Go in.”

He looked at her, still wide eyed, “what?”

“Go the fuck inside before she thinks you’re a creep.” 

“Right. Right.” JJ sucked on his vape, blowing smoke out of his mouth and nose before heading inside. He could do this, he could manage this. 

The bell above the door chimed as he walked inside, trying to play off his unusual level of nervousness by thumbing through books as he passed them. He couldn’t tell if any of these were smart people books. What did smart people read? What had their English teacher that year been harping on him to try and read? Something about an island.

“Can I help you find something?” You asked, watching him bump into a stack of books near the self-help shelf. 

“Yeah, yeah,” JJ nodded a little too enthusiastically, taking his cap off to run a hand through his hair before fixing it back on. Play it cool. “Hey, do I know you?” Good.

You frowned. He hadn’t come back from getting a beer but you had done a fair amount of self-preservative talking, reassuring yourself that you weren’t completely unmemorable. “I was at the party a few weeks ago.”

“Oh yeah, cool cool. Uh, what are you reading?” He asked, looking at the closed book on the counter. 

“Walden, by Henry David Thoreau.” You held it up for him to see the cover. “So, did you need help finding a book?”

“Uh,” JJ looked around the area he was in, scanning titles on the literature shelf. Something had to sound smart right? What sounded the smartest? “This one.” He grabbed a book and set it down on the counter.

“Seriously?” You had known ‘of’ JJ for a while. You went to the same school and on the days when he did show up for class nothing about him suggested that he was doing some heavy reading in his spare time. “Okay.” The party was the first time he’d ever actually spoken to you and, as much as you had enjoyed hanging out with him, you still didn’t think he was on the fast track to reading complicated literary works. 

“Cool, thanks.” He nodded. Over his shoulder, outside, Kiara and Pope were standing at the window watching the two of you. Neither of them looked hopeful about the interaction. “I’ll see you around or something?” He asked once he had the book in hand.

“Yeah, I’ll see you around.” You smiled, hopeful that he might actually mean it.

-

JJ kept the book in his backpack for two weeks before he finally took it out and tried to read it. After a day of surfing, when he couldn’t sleep, he’d gone outside and sat in the hammock in John B’s yard, trying to read the book. It was almost too dark to see and he held a flashlight between his chest and chin as he tried to make sense of the story he was reading. When John B had heard about the encounter he had ragged on his best friend for days. JJ, reading? What was the world becoming? 

He looked for you at other parties over the course of those two weeks but he didn’t see you. He knew he could find you at the bookstore but he didn’t want to until he could understand what he was reading. If he could impress you, prove that he understood the stupid book, then maybe you’d go out with him. 

“You’ll have to read more books. She isn’t gonna listen to you sparknotes that book forever.” Pope had explained when JJ had told them his plan. 

“It’ll be fine.” None of the words even felt like they made sense at this point. 

On Tuesday, after two weeks of having the book and not understanding it he went back to the bookshop. If he wasn’t so frustrated by his own inability to comprehend something so stupid he would have been more nervous. You were reading something new this time and didn’t even look up when the bell chimed. 

You did look up when someone dropped a book on your counter. Buried in the sand, accidentally dropped in the marsh, bent up to loosen the spine, thumbed through while eating, and stained from a beer spill, the book looked like it had spent two weeks in hell and you almost had a panic attack at the sight. JJ stood there, looking almost as bad as the book.

“I don’t get it.”

“What?” You asked, bewildered.

“I tried…I read it twice. Front to back and I have no fucking idea what this guy is supposed to be talking about. Like what the fuck!” JJ exclaimed, voice louder than necessary. 

“I mean-”

“I only got this stupid thing because I thought if I could fucking read it than I wouldn’t sound like such an idiot talking to you and if I didn’t sound like an idiot, you’d go out with me.” JJ confessed.

“What?”

“None of it makes sense.” He groaned. 

“JJ, what?” You repeated, “you want to go out with me?”

“Yeah. And you were totally not interested at the party.”

“What are you talking about, I was too. You told me that stupid joke about penguins or something-”

“That’s a funny joke.”

“No. It’s not. It doesn’t make sense.” You replied, “but I laughed. Then you left to get beer and never came back.”

“I did too.”

“No…you didn’t.” 

“Fuck! So, I read this stupid fucking book for nothing?” He asked as he realized that he’d rushed to conclusions. 

“I mean, if it makes you feel better, I’m super impressed you read Ulysses twice. Even if you didn’t get it.” You laughed. 

JJ ran a hand through his hair before shaking it out and looking at you, “so you wanna hang out?”

“I have two more hours in my shift, but after that I can.”

“Okay.” He nodded, looking around the small bookshop before settling on his torn-up copy of Ulysses, “so, do you understand it?” 

“I read the study that Stuart Gilbert did on it so, yeah.”

“Like a cheat sheet?”

“I guess.”

“Fuck!” He groaned, leaning over the counter and placing his forehead against it. “I fucking can’t believe I wasted two weeks on this shit.”

You laughed, reaching across to rub his back, “It’s okay. I can explain it to you if you want?”

“Please do.”

“Seriously?” You asked, surprised that he wanted to actually understand it.

JJ stood up again, hands pressed against the counter, “yeah you look super hot when you explain stuff. That history assignment in ninth grade was like, the hottest thing I’ve ever seen in my life.”

You laughed, “You are a weird person.”


	11. Attack of Panic - JJ Maybank/reader

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Request: can you do one with JJ where he’s scared of storms and one day when the five of you are out on the boat a storm starts but he has a panic attack and you have to calm him down thanks ily

JJ had shit talked about Agatha after the storm passed but on the day of he’d stayed inside, passing on John B’s offer to surf the surge, claiming that he didn’t want you to be alone during the height of the hurricane. You had played along because you knew he didn’t like talking about his aversion to storms. You’d only found out the year before when he showed up at your house to crash. 

Your mom had somehow been convinced that JJ was a ‘sweet’ boy. You’d even heard her refer to him as a saint on occasion. Not the word you would ever use to describe JJ (and probably not the one she would choose if she knew what the two of you did when she wasn’t home) but you were thankful she thought so highly of him when he showed up at your doorstep, soaked from the rain, after a fight with his dad. 

He was delegated to the couch in the living room and your mom provided him a clean shirt and some sweatpants from her boyfriend. The storm that he’d walked to your house in only got worse as the night continued and by the time it was bad enough to cause a power outage JJ was in your room. 

“Are you sure you’re okay?” You whispered once he was situated in bed. He would never tell the others but when he climbed in bed and you wrapped your arms around him, he realized how much he liked being the little spoon. You pressed your forehead against the back of his neck as the two of you laid in the dark, the thunder outside rumbling. 

“Yeah.” His voice sounded a little strained, muffled by your wrist pressed against his lips. He had come into your room and asked if he could sleep in there with you, swearing up and down that there would be no funny business. You had only lifted the blanket for him to get under. 

“Can I do anything for you?” 

“Just this.”

In the morning the storm had passed, you and JJ had changed positions, and he made you swear not to tell anyone about his fear of storms. It was stupid to be so scared, he lived in North Carolina, epicenter of tropical depressions. But you swore not to say anything about it and told him that being afraid of something he couldn’t control wasn’t stupid at all. 

When Agatha struck you texted him and asked if he was home. He invited you to John B’s and the two of you spent the night on the pull-out couch talking about future plans for the summer. When the power went out that time, he was already asleep but you were awake. John B had come back and gone straight to his room, soaked from the surf and exhausted. You stayed up all night, sitting on the pull-out couch with JJ while he slept, reading by flashlight. It wasn’t as memorable as the last time but JJ slept better than he ever had during a storm. 

After that it had been mostly good weather. The discovery of the Grady White and Scooter and Big John’s compass had occupied your time anyway. And the map, once Kie found the package with the map inside it felt like everything was falling into place. 

With Heyward’s boat rigged with the drone all of you set sail for the royal merchant’s wreck. The water was calm, something the five of you had been waiting for all week, and now you were out on the boat. You were helping Kiara with the drone when the weather started to change, the wind picking up. John B was shouting directions at JJ and you kept looking back at him, nervous. 

“I got this.” Kie said, reaching out and placing her hand over yours. 

“Thanks.” You hadn’t told Kie about JJ’s aversion to storms and you knew he definitely hadn’t told her but you also knew that she had a sixth sense when it came to anyone in the group. 

You left her with the drone and stepped around John B and Pope to join JJ at the wheel. The wind was raging and you could practically see the storm rolling in. Lighting in the distance and the waves pushing the boat in conflicting directions. When you reached JJ you could see the effect the oncoming storm was having on him. His knuckles were white from the grip he had on the wheel, eyes brimming with tears and jaw clenched. He didn’t look like he was breathing.

You placed a hand on his back and he nearly jumped, “Hey, it’s okay,” you promised, voice hushed, “it’s just me.”

JJ closed his eyes for a split second, hands relaxing. You rubbed his back as John B called out more instruction. 

“Deep breaths babe,” you encouraged. 

He nodded frantically, “yeah, yeah…it’s good.” He said it but you could tell he didn’t mean it. Despite the drop in the weather you could see the sweat at the back of his neck and the edge of his hairline. He was gripping the wheel too tight again, trying to keep himself upright and he kept trying to breathe deeply but every time he breathed in his breath got stuck in his throat and he felt like he was going to drown. 

“JJ!” John B called, looking away from the monitor to find his friend. He nudged Pope to grab his attention when he saw that you had joined JJ at the wheel. Pope raised his eyebrows; he knew you two were close but he didn’t know you were that close. 

You turned toward the boys when JJ didn’t answer them, biting his lip to stop from making any noise that would betray his usual confident pogue-self. “Yeah JB?” You asked.

“Hold steady.” He called. 

You nodded. The storm was practically overhead and you pressed your lips to JJ’s sweatshirt covered shoulder, “You’re okay, we’re gonna be fine. Kie’s almost there.”

“We got it!” John B shouted over the waves and you squeezed JJ’s arm with the hand on his back as John instructed him to head home. 

The amount of self-discipline that JJ actually had was astounding. Everyone always said that he was impulsive and emotional and while that was true most times, you’d never met anyone who could have as much calm under pressure as he was capable of. He proved it all over again as he steered the boat to dock. You stayed by his side, watching the storm as you continued to reassure him that he’d be okay. 

When Pope had tied the boat you led JJ off first, telling the others that you wanted to get inside before the rain started. You held JJ’s hand in yours and walked passed a few of the small shacks set up on the dock and around the side of a building, under an awning. Without a word you guided him to stand with his back against the wall and pressed his hand against his chest. 

“Breath in time,” you spoke calmly, “in…out…in…good.” You encouraged. “Can you tell me what you can see, shapes…colors?”

“Why?” His voice sounded strained and his jaw hurt from clenching it so tightly. 

“JJ,” you brushed his hair away from his face, “I need you to trust me.”

“Uh…pink. Like a circle. Imagine if we were at Miss Lana’s, all the colors and shit there.” He mentioned, laughing at the thought as he leaned his head against the wall. He could still feel his heart and feel you, pressed close to him. 

“Oh my god, the hanging crystals alone.” You replied. “How’re you feeling?”

“Better.” He admitted, you’d gotten him through the worst of it, “thanks. Sorry about freaking out.”

“It’s totally normal.”

“Yeah, I’m sixteen, I shouldn’t be afraid of stupid storms and shit.” He grumbled. 

You could hear the others approaching. “There’s nothing wrong with being afraid. Can I tell you a secret?”

He nodded. 

“I’m terrified of the ocean.” You admitted. It was true, every time you thought about going passed the marsh your hands started to shake. 

“You go out in the boat all the time.”

“Yeah, cause I know you’d never let anything happen to me.” You replied, “do you wanna go back to my house? You can be little spoon.”

“You promised we’d never talk about that.” JJ said, wrapping his arms around your shoulders and pulling you into a hug.

“Okay then, I’ll be the little spoon.”

“No way.” He shook his head, “nice try though.”


	12. Sneaking Around - JJ Maybank/reader

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Request: Hello!! I love your JJ imagines! I was wondering if you could write one where they are secretly a thing behind everyone’s back and share quick kisses all the time and secret hand holds under the table, and then one night at a party or something everyone sees them alone looking soOoOo in love

JJ leaned down, hands on the table between you and Pope, as he sat, kissing Pope on the cheek swiftly before kissing your cheek as well. Once he was situated you dropped your elbows from the table, your right hand finding his left. He glanced over at you, schooled expression in place, and then turned back to John B as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened. His fingers laced with yours, holding your hand in his lap as you listened to your friends talk. His thumb traced circles on your skin. Your free hand propped your chin on the table, eyes fluttering every now and then as you tried to pay attention to the discussion at hand. 

It had happened at a party almost eight months ago. One of the upper classmen at Kildare County High School held a Halloween bash in a vacant house on figure 8. You dressed as Britney Spear circa 1998 in her famous school girl uniform though you’d traded her heeled maryjanes for an old pair of vans. You’d gone all out on the outfit; JJ had offered to drive you and there was nothing you wanted more than to impress him. You spent the whole night flirting with him, dancing with him. You thought maybe it wasn’t going to go passed that when JJ had spilled beer on you and somewhere between the kitchen and the laundry room you kissed him. Tipsy enough not to worry about the complications that pogue-on-pogue macking always led to. When you woke up in one of the bedrooms of the kook mansion the next morning, JJ beside you, you decided that you were sober enough not to let those complications stop you from being happy. But both of you knew what your friends would say so you agreed, no one could know. And no one did. You didn’t tell Kiara and he didn’t blab to John B and Pope. 

“That is not what happened!” Kiara shouted, leaning across the table to smack John B in the arm. 

JJ leaned over as the other three were distracted, lips brushing against your neck. You bit your lip and covered your mouth with your hand. He kissed you neck, up to your ear. He pressed a kiss to your earlobe before whispering, “tonight?”

“My mom is staying at her boyfriend’s,” you replied, head turned just slightly, eyes on your friends so that if they looked over none of them would suspect anything. 

He kissed your jaw and then pulled away, cool air weaving into the space he once occupied as he tried to distance himself from you. When you decided that you would keep things a secret it was as if your brain suddenly developed a sixth sense for JJ. You suddenly noticed how many times the two of you sat together, shared a hammock, slept on the pull-out with each other. It had all been subconscious before but now it was all you could think about. Where you standing too close? Where you paying too much attention to him? Did the two of you spend too much one on one time together? 

The conversation died down again as Pope apparently gained the upper-hand in the story. When the waitress came around to get your order she stood at the other end of the table, giving JJ an excuse to press his body against yours as he leaned over, acting like she couldn’t hear him if he didn’t physically get as close as possible. Kiara tried to shush him when he got too loud and you winced at the sound of his voice in your ear. He was acting obnoxious on purpose because he knew it drew his friends attention away from how close he was to you. Pope grabbed his shirt and pulled him back into his place. 

“Dude, shut up. You’re so loud.” He complained. 

“I second that.” You added, nudging JJ with your elbow. 

“I’m not being loud,” he replied, looking over at the waitress, “am I loud?” 

“Excuse him, he’s not trained yet.” Kiara said, glaring at JJ.

“I’ll get-” and just like that the table was being pulled back into ordering as John B read off the menu. 

JJ sat back in his seat, his hand reaching beneath the table for yours once again. You looked over at him, winking as you squeezed his hand. When he tried to wink back, both eyes closing instead, you bit your lip to stop from laughing out loud and drawing too much attention to the two of you. 

Once dinner was over and the bill had been divided amongst the five of you, you offered to take the money up to the counter. John B left to take the car around while Pope and JJ got into a miniature food fight, flinging leftovers at each other with their spoons. Pope held his fingers in a triangle as the food fight dissolved into food tabletop bingo. 

“Guys!” Kiara hissed, leaning across the table and whacking JJ’s hand, “cut it out.”

“Oh come on Kie,” JJ whined, “that was gonna be a touchdown.”

“You guys are acting like five-year olds.”

“I think that’s an insult to five-year olds.” You replied, gathering the money and getting up from the table. You’d gone over it one more time to make sure that the tip was enough. As you stood you grabbed JJ’s wrist, “come on, I’ll babysit you. Kiara can take Pope out to the car.”

“I’ll behave please, don’t make me leave!” JJ said, raising his voice as he walked past crowded tables, catching other diners’ attention as he went.

“Shut up.” You laughed, tugging his wrist to lead him to the counter. Once out of sight from your friends JJ twisted his arm and you released his wrist so that you could hold his hand. “You’re being ridiculous today.” You whispered. 

“You’re so mean to me.” JJ replied, pouting at you. 

“You’ll survive.” 

He looked back over to the table where Kiara and Pope had been. It was empty now, both of your friends going outside to wait in the bus with John B. Once you’d finished paying JJ pulled you toward the back of the diner, where the bathrooms were.

“What are we doing JJ?” You asked, laughing when he pushed you into the family bathroom. 

JJ didn’t answer you. Instead he backed you up against the sink and kissed you, hands on your hips. You wrapped your arms around his neck, fingers tugging at his hair as he lifted you onto the edge of the sink. 

“The guys are gonna notice that it’s taking us a long ass time to meet them outside.” You whispered as JJ laid kisses against your neck and collar. “JJ, are you listening to me?”

“I’m trying really hard not to.” He replied. His hands slipped under your crop top, fingers grazing just below your bikini as he continued to kiss and suck at your neck. 

“JJ.” You hissed, smacking his shoulder, “JJ.” You tugged his hair enough to pull him away from you. He squeezed your sides as his eyes met yours, pout on his face. 

“What?” He groaned. 

“We should go, there is no way they are gonna believe that it’s taking us this long to pay a bill.”

“Chill,” JJ leaned in and kissed you again, “they won’t know.” 

They didn’t. He was right. You told them you needed to use the bathroom and all three of them seemed completely willing to buy the story. On the ride back to the Chateau you sat in the back, cross-legged on the floor, against the bench. JJ sat behind you, legs on either side of you and you rested your head against his knee while John B drove. 

-

Parties weren’t always your thing but ever since you and JJ started dating parties were a preferable way to spend the night, especially if the two of you couldn’t get away from your friends. Parties meant lots of people pulling attention in every direction. It meant that no one noticed when you slipped away to John B’s room or an empty bedroom or the bus. Tonight, you were out by the hammocks when JJ found you, two beers in his hands. 

“Here,” he handed one over, sitting next to you on the hammock. You smiled, kissing his shoulder in greeting. 

“It’s so loud in the house.” 

The party that John B and JJ were throwing at the Chateau had spilled out into the front yard, a few different groups mingling with each other, far enough away that they didn’t pay you and JJ any attention. The music from inside the barely audible at the hammocks but in the living room it was loud, bass overwhelming the sounds of people talking. Kiara was inside, looking for you. She checked John B’s room, Big John’s room, the office, she even double checked the bathroom. You’d swiped JJ’s stash two nights ago as part of an ongoing series of pranks that the two of you were embroiled in and you’d promised to split it with her. Except she couldn’t find you.

“I saw her go outside.” Pope told her when she asked him and John B if they had any idea where you were. 

And you were outside. Sitting on one of the hammocks. JJ was sitting beside you, leaning back against the hammock, feet on the ground. You sat facing him, one leg up, behind him, and the other hanging off the side of the hammock. Your cups were empty and on the ground while the two of you sat there talking. 

The talking Kiara couldn’t hear but she could see the two of you. Sitting close. She watched, wide eyed, as you kissed him, shifting even closer as he leaned into you. Kiara ran back inside, grabbing John B and Pope to drag them out onto the porch where they could see the two of you. 

“What am I looking at?” John B asked, squinting against the lights of the porch and trying to see out into the yard.

“Oh my god!” Pope exclaimed, realizing what he was looking at, “no way, they’re together?” 

Kiara hurried off the porch, walking across the yard to the hammocks, John B and Pope following behind her. 

Hammocks weren’t on the top of your list as comfortable places to make-out but the hammock at John B’s house definitely beat some of the other places that the two of you had tried. Despite the discomfort, you were less inclined to pay attention to the ropes digging into your knee or the numbness that was starting to settle into your arm from JJ laying on it. 

“Hey!” Kiara shouted, catching your attention and causing you to roll off of JJ, pulling your arm from beneath his back and falling against the hammock. 

“Holy shit.” JJ sat up, recovering from the sudden interruption, “hey guys, how’s it going?”

“What the hell you guys? Are you guys like…” Kiara looked between the two of you, eyes wide, “the rule guys!”

“Screw the rule.” JJ groaned. 

You looked over at him, surprised. “Seriously?” 

“What?” 

“Maybe we should,” Pope grabbed Kiara’s arm, nodding back to the house.

“I just want my half of the stash.” Kiara said, “you guys…do you.” 

“It’s in my glove compartment. My keys are in John B’s room.” You replied, “now can you guys like, leave?”

“Going.”

“Don’t have sex in the hammock!” John B called as they walked away, drawing the attention of a few partygoers. 

“Too late.” JJ hollered and you leaned over, smacking his arm. 

“Oh gross man!” Pope shouted.

You watched the three of them leaving before you leaned into JJ, letting him wrap his arm around you and kiss the side of your head. “What stash?”

“What?” You asked, tilting your head back so you could see his face.

“What stash? You ran out last week.” 

“I found more?” You offered, smiling at him.

“Oh my god! You stole my fucking stash!” JJ shouted, untangling himself from you and climbing out of the hammock. It rocked as he climbed out of it and you held on to the rope, laughing as it shook you.

“Wait JJ!” You called, halting him. 

“I can’t believe you used me to steal my stash.” 

“You’re so dramatic. I didn’t need to use you to steal some weed.” You joked. 

JJ turned back to you and, without warning, threw himself back onto of you on the hammock, sending the whole thing rocking once more. You screeched at the sudden burst of energy from him. You tried to slow the swinging of the hammock with your feet. 

“You’re crushing me.” You whined, pushing at him.

“That’s what you get for stealing my weed.” He said, shifting on the hammock so that he could hold himself up over you. 

“I didn’t steal it…I borrowed it?” You suggested, smiling at him. 

“Unbelievable, first you steal from me and then you lie to me?” 

“What are you gonna do about it?” 

JJ looked down at you, considering you for a moment until he leaned down, lips brushing against your neck, the hand that wasn’t supporting his weight pushing up your top as you pulled him closer to you. You closed your eyes, thinking briefly that John B was not gonna be thrilled about the state of his hammock in the morning.


	13. WTF - JJ Maybank/reader

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Request: Hey, could you do another jj one, maybe where he likes the reader, but he thinks she likes John B and gets all jealous or something???

“How cute is the hat though?” You teased, adjusting the baseball cap on your head. The insignia on the front advertised a local diner that sat near the dock, welcoming people from the mainland onto the island. The unzipped hoodie you had on bore the same symbol, representative of your new summer job, delivery girl for the diner. 

John B had called up asking what the friends and family discount was and you had charged fries and burger to your card for him. And delivered it to the Chateau. “Super cute, wait til JJ sees it.” 

“Don’t even joke about that!” You weren’t unashamed to have a job, the half of “pogue life” that everyone pretended didn’t exist was the half where you got a job as soon as humanly possible and you worked every minute you didn’t hang out with your friends because everything cost money and parents only offered so much in way of an allowance. 

You had been babysitting since you were eleven and had finally moved up to the big leagues this summer with a real job. But there was no way in hell that you wanted JJ to see you driving around the island in some dorky hat, delivering food to people. 

“He’s gonna rag on me so hard if he does. I look like a moron.” 

“You just said you looked cute.” John B pointed out. 

“Yeah to you. That’s like bragging to a brother or something. Cute in a platonic way John B.” You replied, taking a seat on the arm of the couch. 

“Aw come on, those other girls don’t stand a chance against you.” 

“Welcome to 2019 John B, I’m not in competition with anyone. If I wanted to date JJ I would.” You replied, annoyed. You weren’t sitting around the beach envious of every girl in a bikini, that was a ridiculous notion. 

“Dependant upon you asking him and him saying yes.” 

“And he would! Just not when I look like this.” You gestured to your outfit and hat. 

John B laughed, taking another once over of your outfit. Sweatshirt, looser T-shirt, jeans, vans, stupid hat. Definitely not what usually got JJ’s blood flowing. There were far too many loose fabrics and covered body parts. “He can’t help, he’s very…” 

The sound of an engine caught both John B’s and your attention, cutting off his train of thought. Pulling up on a old red dirt bike was JJ, no helmet. He skidded the bike to a stop by the stairs and dismounted, letting it fall to the ground and walking up into the porch. 

You pulled your cap off as John B started laughing, “speak of the devil, hey man.” 

“Hey,” JJ came all the way into the room, grabbing a fry off the kitchen table and looking over to you, “I thought you couldn’t hang out today?” 

“I’m technically working.” You held up the offending baseball cap. 

“You should see it on her, very cute.” John B teased. 

When JJ looked back at his best friend you flipped John B off. “Well, I better get going, it was uh…I’ll see you guys later.” 

“You still coming to the Wreck tonight?” JJ asked, flopping down on the couch beside you, leaning his head against your thigh. 

“Yeah, once I Howard Hughes myself and stop smelling like diner food.” 

“I’m not complaining, I got free food.” John B shrugged. 

“I want free food.” JJ whined as you brushed your fingers through his hair. 

“I’ll buy you dinner?” You offered. “But I really seriously have to go or I’ll be in trouble.” You leaned over and kissed the top of JJ’s head before giving John B a hug and running out the door. 

-

As promised, and after a long shower, you showed up at the Wreck for dinner with everyone. John B was out on the deck, tasked with waiting for you and JJ to arrive. 

“I’m really missing the hat.” John B teased as you hugged him. 

You rolled your eyes but otherwise ignored the comment. “What are you doing tomorrow?”

“Why?” He asked, leaning against the railing to keep a look out for JJ. 

“Cause I wanna go down to the car dealership. I have finally have enough saved for the ‘88 land cruiser. JJ said he’ll show me how to do all the mechanic stuff.” You had just gotten your license before the summer started and you’d been eyeing up the land cruiser since sharing a car with your mom was becoming more and more of a hassle. 

“Why don’t you ask JJ to go?” 

“Cause he’ll wanna argue with the guy about pricing and I already agreed on the down payment so I don’t want him putting his foot in it.” You shrugged. 

“I think you going with me is counterintuitive to you getting him to go out with you.” John B pointed out. 

“Oh yeah, let me put on my stupid hat from the diner and be like ‘hey what’re you doing tomorrow cause I think we should go on the lamest date ever.”

“You’re barely even selling it.” John B laughed. He reached over and pretended to take an invisible hat off your head, “okay, hard sell this time.”

“You’re super gorgeous and I want mack on you all the time, let’s go buy a car together.” You joked, blinking in an attempt to look like you were fluttering your eyelashes. 

A throat cleared behind you and both of you turned to see JJ standing on the ramp, jaw set. Neither you nor John B noticed the clenched fists. 

“Twice in one day bro, you have some impeccable timing.” John B said. Kiara and Pope stepped out onto the deck at the same time, food in hand. 

“I’ll say.” JJ shoved passed the two of you and fell into a seat at one of the empty tables. 

“What the hell?” Kiara mouthed to you but you only shrugged, not sure where JJ’s shitty mood was coming from. 

John B took the food from her, placing it on the table. When you grabbed the back of the seat next to JJ he hooked his foot on the leg, holding it in place so you couldn’t pull it out. “What the hell Jay?” 

“Kiara, saved you a seat.” He said, looking passed you to where Kiara was still standing in the doorway, trying to workout what was happening.

You released the back of the chair, holding your hands up in surrender and going to sit between Pope and John B. Kiara took your vacated seat, which JJ gave to her without issue. You slumped into your chair, glancing over at John B who only shrugged, unsure what was the matter with his best friend. 

Dinner didn’t get any better either, if you were being honest. JJ’s terrible mood turned into a bizarre fake happy that felt over exaggerated. He spent the whole time flirting with Kiara which wasn’t too unusual, sometimes you thought JJ flirted with everyone. He completely ignored you and John B, at one point pretending like he didn’t hear you when you asked him to pass grits to you. It took four tries before Pope finally stretched across JJ to reach them and handed the bowl your way. 

Kiara played down the flirting because she knew how you felt about JJ. She kept sending you apologetic faces and mouthing that she didn’t know what was going on. You didn’t either but it was grinding on your last nerve. When he invited Kiara to go surfing tomorrow, sans the group, you finally lost whatever cool you had been trying to maintain from your seat, switching between pouting at him and glaring at him. 

“Okay, this is bullshit.” You announced, standing up suddenly from the table. John B grabbed the back of your chair when it threatened to topple over. “JJ, can we talk.”

JJ continued talking about surfing tomorrow, not even turning to acknowledge you. 

“Are you fucking kidding me? JJ.”

“Do you hear something?” He asked, still looking at Kiara. 

“Real mature.” Your walkest around the table to him, grabbing his ear and yanking just enough that his head jerked. 

“What the fuck!” He shouted, pulling away from you and standing up. His chair did fall down.

“I feel like I’m watching real housewives.” Pope chimed in.

“Shut up.” Kiara hissed.

“What the fuck is wrong with you?!” JJ followed you down the ramp when you walked away from him, not interested in arguing in front of your friends right now. “Hey!” He grabbed your arm to stop you. 

“Get off!” You tore your arm away and turned toward JJ, “you’re being a dick, you know that?” 

“I’m just trying to have a nice dinner with my friends.” 

“Oh my god, you’re sitting up there fucking acting like I’m invisible or something! What the hell is the matter with you?” You snapped. 

“Oh sorry I’m not giving you all my attention,” JJ mocked, “it must be so hard for you not to be the center of attention.”

“What the fuck? God, JJ, you’re being such a dick.”

“You already said that.” 

You turned away from him, taking a deep breath and closing your eyes. You hated arguing with people, especially JJ. When he got angry he was stubborn and he could keep going until you got so upset you cried and you really didn’t want to cry in front of him. When you finally turned to face him he was still glaring at you, hands at his sides balled into fists. He looked ten seconds from punching something. 

“Whatever, this is clearly a waste of time. I’m going home.” You walked passed him, back toward the ramp. You’d walked from your house and you didn’t feel like walking back. 

“Didn’t know you lived in that direction.” 

“I’m asking John B for a ride home if that’s okay with you.” You snapped. 

“I’m sure that’s not the only thing you’re asking for.” He snarked. 

“What the actual fuck JJ? What is your problem?” 

“You fucking macking on John B behind everyone’s back.” JJ shouted. 

“What?” That was what had him treating you like you didn’t exist. He thought you were with John B…the information was short circuiting your brain but you were trying to find your way back into the moment. “What are you talking about, me and John B?” 

“I heard you talking to him when I got here and you at his place this afternoon even though you told me you were busy all day.” 

“I was delivering food.” You said, “legitimately delivering food to his house because that’s my job. JJ, John B and I aren’t anything. Friends yeah, nothing more.” 

“What about all that shit you said to him earlier? I heard you tell him-“

“Oh my god JJ, I was fucking talking about you!” You shouted. 

“What?” Now it was his turn to get a punch to the gut, metaphorically. He took a step back. 

“John B said I should ask you to go out with me…I was, I was talking about you.” You said. 

JJ lifted his cap up, running a hand through his hair and then replacing the cap. “I didn’t know-”

“No, you just fucking rushed to conclusions and acted like a jealous asshole.” You crossed your arms defensively as you stood there. “You treated me like crap JJ.”

“I didn’t know…”

“Doesn’t give you the right to act like that.” 

“Dude just apologize and kiss her or something.” John B shouted. Your three best friends were standing at the railing watching you and JJ have it out in the parking lot, John B casually sipping on his soda as he waited for you guys to work things out. He’d had an inkling that JJ was jealous earlier in the afternoon when he showed up at the Chateau. It was only confirmed tonight, when he thought the two of you were together.

“Stay out of it John!” Both of you shouted, JJ flipping his best friend off. 

“I’m with John B on this one, you guys are literally like walking sexual tension.” Kiara piped up.

JJ waggled his eyebrows at you suggestively and you narrowed your eyes. “You cannot act like I don’t exist and then want to pretend none of that happened.”

“Let me make it up to you?” 

“I decide the terms.” You replied immediately.

You hadn’t really noticed that the entire time you were talking to JJ he had been getting slowly closer and closer to you. It wasn’t until he was right in front of you, hands finding your hips easily, like he’d done this a million times, leaning in close to you.

“It won’t work JJ.” You warned, though it was already working.

“I’m not doing anything.”

“We have very different opinions about that statement.” 

JJ nodded, “yeah.” And then his lips were brushing against yours so gently you swore you were imagining it. Just as quickly he was stepping away from you. 

“What was that?” You asked, annoyed.

“What?”

“Oh my god. I take back all the things I said about you, you’re infuriating.” You snapped. 

“How am I-”

You cut him off, grabbing his face in your hands rather abruptly and kissing him. Screw being upset, you’d been waiting for this moment too long to prolong it over pride. Behind you John B whooped. JJ pulled you against him with one arm while flipping John B off with his other hand.


	14. No Scrubs - JJ Maybank/reader

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Request: Hi! I love love love your writing!! I was wondering if I could get something based on “No Scrubs” by TLC about OBX where Topper is trying to get with the reader but she doesn’t want him because JJ really loves her? This is totally out there and I understand if you don’t want to!
> 
> A/N: Hopefully I did this request justice cause I was really excited about it. There isn’t a whole lot of JJ in this, just an appearance at the end honestly. Also reader’s texts are bold and JJ’s texts are italicized.

“I’m not really interested in being your Sarah Cameron rebound Top.” You passed the equipment in the country club’s gym facility, headed for the locker room as Topper followed you. He’d practically fallen off the pull-up bar to talk to you, “also, I’d love it if you didn’t stalk me to the lockers.”

“It’s not a rebound, I mean I think about before and it’s like, ‘what were you doing man,’ like Sarah Cameron, that was all wrong. Like I was in my head so bad.” He explained, rushing around in front of you and blocking the door to the lockers. 

“Yeah, I can so tell cause you just name dropped Sarah like five times on the way over here.” You replied, crossing your arms under your chest. In all honesty you and Sarah were friends, even more so this summer than before. You didn’t want to drag her name into this stupid, bizarre ‘date me’ conversation Topper was trying to initiate. All you really wanted was for him to leave you along and go back to his weights, maybe find some other mindless kook that he could spend the summer kissing ass to. 

“Look it’s not about her, you know, it’s about us-”

“There is no us Topper. There isn’t going to be either.” 

“Just hear me out, you’re disregarding me here and I’m trying to be up front with you about how I’m feeling and I really feel like we could be great together.” He insisted.

“I feel like I’d love to get changed.” You pointed to the locker room door behind him.

“You can’t just put aside feelings, this is something we should talk about. I mean, you know how I was with Sarah like, I was always there for her. Always. If she needed me I was there and if we dated it’d be the same like, you need me I will drop everything to help you.” 

“I don’t need someone to drop everything…I need you to let me into the locker room.”

“Yeah, no, of course, change, freshen up, we’ll talk. I’ll be right here.”

“Oh awesome.” You deadpanned; walking passed him so that you could change out of your workout clothes. 

You knew that he meant it. Topper would be right outside the locker room waiting for you when you were finished getting dressed, still trying to spark the same dead conversation he’d been hounding you with for the past four days. Practically groveling for a date every single day, name dropping his ex and talking shit about her and John B in every other sentence, bringing up a million character references for why he was such a great person and an incredible boyfriend. It was enough to make you want to puke. 

Unfortunately, there was no way the people at the country club would let you live in the locker room, no matter how nice of a check your dad cut them. You’d have to go out and face the music, Topper being pathetically annoying, if you wanted to leave. And you really, really wanted to leave. If there was anything you hated more than Topper it was the country club. Even if the swimming pool was heated. 

You pulled on a pair of shorts and took your phone out of your duffel, there was no way you were making this living arrangement permanent but you also weren’t about to walk home when Topper was out there trying to convince you that dating him wouldn’t be the greatest misstep in history. You sat down on the bench and opened your messages to text. Apparently you did need someone to drop everything…at least to rescue you from this hell. 

**-hey what are you doing?-**

**-are you busy?-**

**-I need a ride-**

**-hey-**

**-hey are you home?-**

**-guess I’ll just move into the country club-**

**-maybe they’ll let me sleep on this bench in the locker room-**

Finally the three dots in the corner appeared, bouncing for a second before a message came through in reply.

_-I’m putting my shoes on-_

You smiled, staring down at the text. You asked and he answered. It was a bizarrely wonderful feeling. And not all the needy, begging to be at your beck and call, bullshit that Topper tried to pull on a daily basis. 

**-You are the best boyfriend ever-**

**-how can I repay you-**

**-wait, nevermind, I know the answer-**

The phone chimed in reply.

_-so?-_

**-so?-**

_-will you?-_

**-probably.-**

_-😉-_

You rolled your eyes at his response. You were lingering by the locker room door waiting for him to tell you that he was there so you didn’t have to spend too much time listening to Topper grovel after you. 

_-here-_

“Thank god.” You muttered, opening the locker room door and coming face to face with Topper. “Fuck.”

“Hey, you look good, you look really great in that outfit.”

“I swear to god Topper. Get out of my way.” You sighed, trying to get passed him as he stands there blocking the entry back into the gym. “I don’t have time for this bullshit.” 

“Hey, hey, come on, just hear me out. This isn’t bullshit, I’m trying to talk to you.”

“I’m not going on a date with you Topper, I already fucking said that! I’m not interested.” You pushed passed him, heading for the stairs. As you passed the floor to ceiling windows along the staircase you could see the twinkie sitting along the sidewalk, idling.

“We could be so good for each other. I mean like, I look at you and think here’s this incredible girl that I didn’t notice before and like, now I do, ya know? Now I notice and it’s like all I can think about is you.” Topper continued.

“Sorry?” You shrug, stopping and turning on the stairs to look back at him. 

“Don’t be sorry, just give me a chance. This could be destiny; it feels like everything is lining up for us to be together.”

“Except, ya know, that I said no.” 

Summer had been going great until Sarah decided to drop Topper for John B. A choice you couldn’t fault her for; John B was pretty cute and you could definitely see the appeal in getting as far away from Topper as humanly possible. Especially right now. You still had the walk through the entire lobby to manage and there was no way Topper would leave you alone until you were safely in the Twinkie and headed for the Cut. 

“You aren’t giving us a chance.”

“There is no us Topper.” You said, it didn’t matter how stern you sounded Topper wasn’t listening.

“Just one date, come on. Let me prove to you how great we could be together. You and me, I mean, it just makes sense.” He stressed, trying to keep up with you as you walked through the lobby.

“Topper.” You stopped just short of the door, so close to freedom, and turned to face him. “I’m not interested. I don’t like you, I have a boyfriend.” 

“What? Whoa, whoa, what do you mean you have a boyfriend?” He asked. 

“I mean…I have a boyfriend.” You said, walking through the doors. It only took Topper a second to recover from the rejection, hurrying out the door after you. The Twinkie was pulled up to the curb, the driver’s side facing the country club doors. JJ sat in the driver’s seat, relaxed, vaping while he waited for you. His elbow hung out the bus and when he saw you coming he restarted the engine. 

“No fucking way, you’re dating a pogue?” Topper exclaimed, voice loud enough to catch the attention of a few people walking in. You rolled your eyes to JJ before you turned around to face Topper. 

“Bye Top.” 

“Wait, come on. You can’t be serious right now.” He stressed. 

You went around to the passenger side, climbing in. All you wanted to do was get out of there, as far away from the country club and Topper and the rest of the kooks as humanely possible. 

JJ blew a mouthful of smoke out in Topper’s direction. “See ya later.” He called as he peeled out of the parking lot, leaving Topper standing there pissed as the bus disappeared.


	15. Magic Kisses - JJ Maybank/reader

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Request: Hi! Could you do one with JJ where the two of you had planned to go out onto the boat and swim and stuff but JJ gets insecure about taking his shirt off because he doesn’t want you to see all the bruises from his dad

While there were plenty of days when everyone hung out together you would be lying if you said you didn’t love the moments when it was just two of you. Particularly you and JJ. With everyone you felt a little like you got buried in the background, all the competing personalities of your friends vying for top spot, four voices shouting ‘look at me, pay attention to me’ and you faded out. But one on one, you didn’t have to split your focus between them all, you didn’t get left out while JJ and John B talked surfing or JJ and Kie smoked or Pope chastised everyone for something especially reckless. One on one it was just you and them. And today it was just you and JJ. 

Out on the HMS Pogue in the middle of the marsh, you’d asked earlier in the week if he wanted to go with you. “We could take the boat out…swim and stuff.” Usually ending up in a one on one situation happened accidentally. You got to the Chateau and it was just John B there or you went by the Wreck and Kiara was working. But this time wasn’t an accident.

“What’d everyone else say?” JJ always asked about everyone. You weren’t sure if he wanted to make sure no one was excluded or if he really didn’t want to hang out with just you but you weren’t going to chicken out now. You’d been talking yourself into this for weeks.

“I was thinking, just us?” You offered. 

“Okay.” 

It was easy enough to get John B to give up the Pogue for the day. And all you needed to make JJ happy was a cooler full of beer and your stash. He showed up a little later than he’d promised too, white t-shirt instead of his usual cut-off and shorts with his boots. 

“I’m pretty sure my exact words were ‘swim and stuff’.” You commented as he climbed on board. 

“You can do the swim and I’ll do the stuff.” He joked, getting behind the wheel without having to be asked. He knew how much driving the boat made you anxious. 

JJ had considered texting you that morning and telling you that he didn’t want to go. He had stared at his phone for an hour, thinking up every excuse he possibly could. He was cutting grass, he took a shift at the country club, he had to help his dad around the house, he was delivering groceries with Pope, anything that would seem believable. Except then he thought about how disappointed you’d be if he cancelled, how genuinely happy you’d looked when he told you that he would hang out. 

“Honestly thought that was how it was gonna go.” You replied, opening the cooler to hand him a beer. He was easy to please with a case of Pabst or Nattys. “I finally got that fake from Andrew.” 

JJ raised an eyebrow skeptically, there was no way you could pass off as twenty-one, even with a fake. “Oh yeah?”

“Plus I didn’t wear my shirt in.” You shrugged, “the guy at the distributor is a total tits man.” Going in there with just your bikini top and short shorts was definitely the right move. You were pretty sure you could’ve handed him a library card and he would’ve thought it was an ID. 

“Fuck man, I’m never getting beer from him now.” JJ laughed.

“I’ll buy it for you.”

The sun was right overhead by the time JJ anchored in the middle of the marsh, a prime swimming spot. He had downed half of the twelve pack you’d brought him and moved on to smoking, leaning back against the bench while you sat on the front of the Pogue, legs hanging over the edge. You were starting to wish that you had invited everyone else. JJ refused to swim which left drinking and smoking and you were bored. 

“Do you wanna go back?” You asked, laying down on the front of the boat, legs still dangling over, and turning your head to look at JJ. You had removed your shorts but not your shirt, only tied it up. What was the point when he was just sitting there smoking. 

“I thought we were spending the day on the water or something.” 

“I wanna swim, I’m bored.”

“Swim.” He waved his arms out to the marsh. 

“JJ, I don’t wanna swim by myself.”

“I’ll get in soon I swear, you go first.” He replied.

“You’re being super weird.” You noted, getting up and taking your shirt off. “Usually you’re first in the water.”

“I’m enjoying the view.” JJ smiled, winking at you.

“You a tits man too Maybank?” You joked, walking over to him and standing between his legs. Even in a group with everyone you always flirted with JJ. Pope had called you out on it once but you had only ignored him. 

JJ sat up a little, placing his hand on the back of your thigh, just above the inside of your knee. He tapped the warm skin, “I’m not sure, turn around.” 

“I’m not turning around.”

“Oh come on,” He smiled, knowing how ticklish you were and running his fingers down your leg gently causing you to yelp and pull away, turning away from him in the process. “You. think it’s possible to be a tits man and an ass man? Cause,” he let out a low whistle.

“I swear to god, JJ.” You laughed. You sat down on the bench next to him and he held out the joint for you. “No thanks. You really won’t go in with me?”

“I just don’t feel like it.” 

“Suit yourself.” As you stood up back up you lost your footing, falling against JJ. He caught you in time that you didn’t hurt yourself but when your hand pressed into his side he flinched away from you. “I’m so sorry.”

“It’s okay,” he insisted, shifting away from you. His voice sounded strained.

“Are you okay?”

“I’m fine.”

“Are you sure? Do you want me to look at it?” You asked, reaching for the hem of his shirt. JJ smacked your hand away, jaw tensed. “I’m sorry.”

He looked away from you. 

“JJ, what happened? You didn’t get in to it with Topper and them did you?” You asked. JJ had a way of mouthing off to people that ended in fights. 

“It’s not from some fucking kook.” 

“Sorry.”

“It’s not you, sorry,” JJ sighed, leaning back against the bench again. “It’s my dad.” He finally confessed.

“What?” You had heard from John B that JJ’s dad was a bully but JJ always played it off like it wasn’t a big deal. Everyone got in fights with their parents, that’s what he said every time you asked. 

JJ exhaled, sitting up slightly and taking the hem of his shirt in his hands. He lifted it over his head, wincing as he stretched his arms above his head. He didn’t miss the quiet sound of you gasping as the bruises on his torso became visible. One on his right side, below his ribs, wasn’t just a bruise. The skin was broken and there was dried blood there. Another bruise on his left side was almost black. He tossed the shirt over on the cooler and looked out at the marsh, avoiding your eyes. 

He flinched when your fingers traced the skin under the left bruise, stretching around onto his side, muscles tensing. “Oh my god JJ…”

“Please don’t say shit about how you’re sorry or something.” JJ said.

“I wasn’t going to.” You replied. You stared at him as he kept his eyes trained forward, jaw still set. “Don’t freak out, alright?” 

“What?” He asked, finally looking at you, confused. 

You closed your eyes for half a second before opening them again, leaning down and pressing the lightest of kisses against the bruises on his torso. You could feel the breath that JJ sucked in as you kissed his skin. JJ was always casually affectionate with everyone. Kisses on cheeks, arms around shoulders, hugs, anything. It was natural. And you were always happy to reciprocate with your own affection but this was different. This was wasn’t a hug, it wasn’t even a kiss on the cheek.

You sat back up and JJ was staring at you, eyes red. “My mom always used to kiss wherever I got an injury. Once I scraped my knee so bad she had to pick gravel out of it and afterward she kissed it and good as new. I mean, not really but…it helped.”

“Thanks.” 

“Do you wanna head back?” You asked, suddenly feeling self-conscious about the impulsive affection. As you started to stand up again JJ grabbed your arm.

“Can we just, I just wanna stay out a little longer.” 

“Okay.” You sat back down beside him, turning into his side, leg against his. “If you ever need anything, no matter what, I’m close by.”

He wrapped an arm around you and pulled you closer so he could lay his head on your shoulder. “I think the kisses might’ve helped.” He said and when he blinked you felt tears against your collar bone.

“Do you mean that or are you saying it because of the view?” You joked, the kiss you placed against his hair betraying the light tone you were trying for.

“Definitely the view.”


	16. The Lourve - John B Routledge/reader

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Request: Hi! Could you do one where y/n is a kook and kie’s best friend but she hangs around the pogues and develops feelings for John b. She stays the night at John b’s and they are the last two up. They sit in the living room and talk for a bit and confess that they have feelings for each other. She goes to sit by him and they share their first kiss. She feels uncomfortable sleeping by herself so she spends the night with john b and they become a couple. Thank you!!

The torture of reinstated game night was wearing on your patience as you sat on the end of the couch, wrapped in a blanket and listening to your mom try to frantically name everything she thought your dad was drawing on the Pictionary board. Your younger siblings chimed in along with your older sister’s family, going between guessing and baiting the opposing team. You had checked your phone a total of twelve times in the last two minutes, trying to find anyone in Kildare County willing to save you from this godforsaken night. Sara was on a date with Topper and you hated everyone else in the kook circle. 

And then, just as your dad correctly guessed a baby carriage, you were saved. Your phone buzzed with a text from Kiara - ‘Party at the Chateau’. 

“Mom, Kie wants to know if I can come over?” You asked, already getting up and heading for the stairs to change.

“It’s game night.” Your mom protested, mark still in hand as she flipping to a clean page on the Pictionary board. She was the queen of guilt trips but it wasn’t going to work this time, you weren’t suffering through a Saturday night of board games when you had the option of hanging out with the only true cool person in the entirety of OBX. 

“Oh, let her go,” your dad piped up, “we’ve got plenty for a game.”

“Thank you!” You kissed your dad on the cheek before running to get ready. 

Kooks and Pogues lived in two separate worlds and, sure, sometimes those worlds collided but there was still a difference. Like some invisible barrier that no one had quite been able to cross. Kiara had a foot in both worlds but even she didn’t quite belong to either one. Too much a Pogue to be a Kook and too much a Kook to be a Pogue. You had tried dipping your toes in her world but you were a Kook, through and through, and that wasn’t going to change. Still, you took any opportunity to hang out with Kiara and her friends as you possibly could. 

You liked all her friends but you liked John B the most. He was always nice to you, when Kiara had first brought you around JJ and Pope had been apprehensive, understandably, but John B had been nothing but welcoming. It didn’t take long for you to become totally infatuated with him either. The curse of John B, according to Pope when he found out that you liked him. Everyone liked him, everyone had a little bit of a crush on him. It wasn’t surprising, there was just something about him. The curse of John B. You didn’t even try to hint at the possibility of wanting to make a move though, afraid that the everyone who liked him might extend to Kiara and valuing your friendship with her over the possibility of a relationship with a boy. 

-

“Hey, you’re still here?” 

You’d spent the night lingering by the hammocks talking pathology with Pope and making rounds at the keg, avoiding John B like the plague. Sure, you had excepted the invitation to a party at his house and yeah, you’d worn the cutest thing you could find in your closet in hopes that he would see you in it but then you’d reminded yourself of the internal pact you made. You would not date John B. You would not flirt with John B. You would remain neutral and in order to do that you would avoid him at all costs. Which was easy until Kiara told JJ that you would be sleeping over too. 

So while Pope, JJ, and Kiara crashed out in the one of the bedrooms you sat on the pull out in the living room, reading some old nautical book Big John had on the shelf. A little dull but it was keeping you awake. 

And then John B came stumbling in from his bedroom to grab a glass of water and saw you sitting there. He tried to be nice to you when Kiara brought you around but there just always felt like there as a riff somewhere. He couldn’t quite connect the same way that everyone else seemed to be able to. 

“Oh, hey,” You looked up from the book and smiled, suddenly feeling tense at the sight of him. Everyone else was sleeping. Maybe he’d go back to bed too. “I was just, reading this.” You held the book up to show him.

“My dad’s book collection isn’t exactly…interesting.” 

“I don’t know, soon I’ll be able to tell you all the maritime laws from the 1800’s.” You joked.

“Oh my god, what a life skill.” He walked over, sitting on the side of the sofa bed. “You alright?”

“Yeah, sometimes I just have trouble sleeping through the night when I’m at other people’s houses.” You replied, “once I actually made my dad pick me up at my cousin’s house cause I got homesick.”

“I can give you a ride home?”

“No, it’s okay. I might try and get some sleep.” 

John B nodded and bit his lip as he watched you. He didn’t make any attempt to get up or move so that you could stretch out and lay down. He just sat there as if there was supposed to be more to the conversation. After a few minutes of him just sitting there, staring, you finally piped up.

“You’re gonna have to move, for me to sleep.” You said. 

“Can I ask you something?” John asked, looking down at his glass of water and then back at you. 

“Sure.” Avoiding John B meant almost never talking to John B. The amount of conversations that you had engaged in didn’t amount to enough that either of you should have felt comfortable to sit there in his living room alone in the middle of the night to talk. Not more than you already had. But John B’s face looked so sincere and serious that you imagined whatever he wanted to discuss was not as simple as maritime laws or small talk about sleep. 

“I’m just trying to figure out…did I do something or say something to you that made you…I don’t know, hate me or something?” John B asked, running a hand through his hair. 

“What?” You were surprised by the question, even more surprised that John B had even thought about you or thought about why you didn’t talk to him. You had no idea he ever noticed you. 

“I see you with Pope and JJ and Kiara and you’re…so cool and funny and I just think how much I want to get to know you but whenever I try you just…put up these walls that are impossible to get over.” John said, “if it’s me, if I did something, tell me please.”

“It’s not you.” You replied, hastily, “I mean…oh god, this is so embarrassing.”

“You can tell me anything.” He thought it must of sounded stupid, hearing him tell you that you could tell him anything, nothing about your relationship up till now suggested that you would even share basic details of yourself with him. 

“I know this sounds so stupid and god, like I’m in kindergarten or something. I really like you John B…like really really like you.” You confessed. 

“What?” John looked shocked enough that you thought he must’ve been convinced you hated him. “That’s what this is about?”

“I didn’t want Kie to think I was just using her to get close to you and I thought you liked Kie, honestly.” You replied. “I didn’t want to be some two-week fling and then lose all my friends over it.”

“No, hey, I like you way too much to let anything that happens be a fling. God, you have no idea how much I like you. Ever since you started coming around with Kie, it’s been so hard thinking you hated me. You’re just…I can’t even describe it.”

“I don’t mind hearing you try.”

John laughed and you smiled.

“Guess I’ve been pretty stupid.” You admitted.

“You were trying to be a good friend. Not to me, I felt shitty the whole time but-”

“I’m sorry.”

John nodded, leaning back on his elbows and tilting his head to look up at the ceiling. You put the book aside, waiting for him to say something. “So you like me and I like you?”

“It would seem so, John B.”

He turned his head to the side, looking at you as if he was trying to figure something out. You felt like minutes passed between the two of you as he sat there and then suddenly he was sitting up and leaning forward and his hands were holding your face and he was kissing you. There had been plenty of times that you had imagined kissing John B. You thought about what it would feel like to have him this close. But now that he was it felt like you were in sensory overload, the feeling of his hands, rough from work, against your face and neck. His lips on yours, soft and urgent. He smelled like the ocean and whatever cheap beer had been in the keg JJ brought. When you tried to pull him closer he laid you down on the pull-out couch and leaned over you, still kissing. 

When he finally broke away he pressed his forehead against yours, breath hot against your face. You wanted to keep kissing him until you ran out of breath. 

“I don’t want to go back to how things were tomorrow.” John admitted, voice not above a whisper, “I don’t want to pretend this never happened.”

“Neither do I.” You promised. 

“Good…good cause there is no way I can ever be okay with not kissing you whenever I want.” 

You kissed him in response, smiling when you pulled away and he tried to lean in to chase you. “I’m glad I didn’t go home.”

“Don’t ever go home?”

“You are so dramatic John B.” You laughed, “here, lay with me?”

He laid down beside you pulling the blanket back over your bodies and spooning you. John kissed behind your ear before tucking his head into your neck. “I’m really glad I woke up to get water.”

“Me too.”


	17. Touch - John B Routledge/reader

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Request: John B x reader, him tesing the shit out of her and just being a playfull asshole, and her liking it. Smutty ending please, if you swing that way 😀

You sat on the dock, watching JJ and Pope trying to rig a swing onto the nearby tree so that they could swing into the marsh. Kiara was watching them, giving out orders on how to tie the rope up properly. John B, who had gone into the house for a drink, came over behind you. He pressed his legs against your back and you tilted your head back to look up at him. 

“Hi,” you smiled when he looked down at you, brown curls framing his face. 

“How’re they doing?” He asked. 

You shrugged, “I think they’re almost finished.”

John B sat down beside you, running his knuckles down your arm and taking your hand in his. You raised an eyebrow at him but he said nothing in response, only smiled. You weren’t entirely sure what John B was up to but he had been unusually affectionate ever since the two of you had kissed two weeks ago. 

You’d been at a party at another Pogue’s house with the regular crew. You weren’t sure when during the night you’d given up dancing with Kie and JJ but somehow, you’d ended up outside with John B, climbing up into an old wooden boat that had been converted to a hammock. Too high to be worried that the thing could break, you’d laughed as you pulled John B up and he fell onto you. 

The entire moment had been as perfectly cliché as any teen romance movie you had ever been made fun of for watching. You felt like you were living in a John Green novel for a suspended moment, as John B laid over you, looking down into your eyes. Even in the dark you could make out every detail of him, though maybe that was just your brain filling in all the blanks, lord knows that you had been practically in love with him since the day you met him. At any other time in your life you would have hesitated to make a move. Not Pogue on Pogue macking was the number one rule and you had always followed it. 

Except that one time in freshman year that you and JJ had gotten really drunk but you’d both sworn that time to secrecy and neither of you actually had feelings for each other. 

John B was not just some friend to hook up with when you were drunk though. He wasn’t even just some friend. You really loved him, you were unwaveringly sure of it. And it wasn’t just the Pogue rule that made you hesitate to make a move. You were terrified of messing things up. Of ruining a good thing because you were greedy. But you were high and he looked so good and you grabbed the back of his neck with no hesitation at all, pulling him down into a kiss that he greedily returned. 

“Are you coming over tonight?” John B asked, pulling you out of your trance. He had your hand in his lap, fingers tracing the life lines on your palm as your friends were distracted by the swing. You were sure that they had noticed the extra affection between the two of you, Pope had said as much just the other day while the two of you were surfing, but you had agreed not to act on the kiss. 

It was a one-time thing. 

“With everyone else?” You deadpanned, drawing your hand away from him. It was a one-time thing, but that didn’t mean you didn’t like the way he winked at you across a room or subtle way he teased you when he thought no one was paying attention.

“Kie invited everyone down to the Wreck, thought we could skip out early?”

“John,” you warned. 

“Yo, JB, we got it rigged up!” Pope called when he noticed John beside you, “wanna give it a go?”

John stood up, offering you a hand. When he pulled you up he pulled a little too hard, letting you lose your grip and collide with him, his arm immediately going around your waist. His hand pressed against your side. 

“John.” You repeated yourself, pulling away. It was just a one-time thing. 

He didn’t wait for you to say anything else, heading over to the other three Pogues so that he could try out the rigged swing. As he stepped onto the swing he looked over at you, winking. You laughed and shook your head as JJ pulled him all the way back before releasing him, John B trying to do some sort of trick flip in the air before he hit the marsh water. 

“Holy shit man, that was awesome!” JJ cheered as he surfaced. 

“Me next.” Kiara was already getting her footing on the swing as Pope started to pull her back. 

John swam to the dock to get up and you met him there. He shook his hair out of his face, droplets of water landing on you as he did. “You gonna try?”

“I’ll let you all survive it first.” You replied, looking back over to your friends. 

While you were distracted John put his arm around your shoulders, pulling you against his side. You placed a hand against his stomach to steady yourself. He leaned his head to the side, lips brushing against your ear as he spoke, “come over tonight.”

“We said it was a one-time thing John.” You replied. 

He pulled away from you and you almost instantly regretted saying anything. “Screw one-time things and stupid Pogue rules. It’s never stopped anyone before.” 

“We can’t just ditch our friends.”

“We’ll go to the Wreck, just come over tonight.” 

“I don’t-”

“You know how I feel about you,” John B said, “that night didn’t mean nothing.”

“I know.” You agreed. He was right, it wasn’t nothing. Not for either of you. 

Kie had found the two of you that night in the boat and drawn you back into the party but neither of you could find your focus again after that. It was like you spent the entire night hyper aware of John B, trying to find him in the crowd of the party whenever he disappeared. You’d even followed him into the kitchen at one point, letting him trap you between himself and the countertop. 

Every time he touched you it felt like electricity shooting through your body. The way his fingers ghosted over your neck and shoulders, down your arms and on your sides. You wondered if he felt the same electric current whenever you touched him. You hoped so. 

“So?” John asked, drawing you close again.

“We go to the Wreck first; I don’t want to be those people that ditch their friends.” 

“Those people?”

“People that date each other and then ditch their friends.” 

“So, we are gonna date each other than?” He asked, smiling. His arms wrapped around your waist and pulled you against him. 

“Maybe. Yes.” You grinned, “yes.”


	18. Nassau - John B Routledge/reader

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Request: John B fluff

You couldn’t remember a time in your life when the sun felt brighter than it did in this particular moment. It had been two days of rubbing coconut oil on John B’s sunburned skin and spraying it with apple cider vinegar until he was finally able to sleep through the night without the pain waking him. He’d gotten bad burns from surfing before but this was completely different. When you had come to on the overturned Phantom you hadn’t believed that your greatest hardship would be easing sunburn enough that your boyfriend could sleep peacefully. 

Careful not to wake him, you shifted out from beneath his arm and went over to the window in the small beach-front apartment to close the drapes. Nassau had been an ex machina in a moment when you thought you were going to die. It was where the gold was, where you needed to be, and John B seemed to have a new sense of purpose again, underneath all the sunburn at least. 

He was eager to try everything he could to find Cameron’s off-shore accounts but when he couldn’t even dress passed a part of shorts there was no way for him to go wandering around Nassau asking questions. 

“Come back to bed.” John B groaned, voice still hoarse from the days at sea. He was laying on his stomach, the skin on his back peeling off. 

“I’m closing the blinds…I don’t need to see the sun for another ten years.” You replied, pulling the drapes shut. You adjusted the AC in the room while you were at the window before coming back over to the bed. “How does your back feel?”

John B moaned, lifting his head from the mattress and leaning onto his elbow to run a hand through his hair. “It fucking hurts.”

“Looks like it’s peeling, you want me to put anything on it?”

“The vinegar smell is making me sick.” 

Despite the obvious fact that both of you were suffering from the same amount of sunburn, John B had turned into a complete child over it. And honestly, you felt for him. He’d been through hell this summer and you knew that there was more to go through before either of you would be able to return to the outer banks. But seeing him sprawled across the bed on his stomach, seemingly defeated by sunburn when he’d survived near death multiple times, was amusing.

“I know but at least its helping, more than the aloe we used on the first night.” You mentioned. A woman at the market you’d bought the aloe at suggested the home remedy of coconut oil and apple cider vinegar and, regardless of his aversion to the smell, it was a godsend.

“Look, I’ve had a rough day and honestly all I wanna do right now is cuddle.” John B replied.

“Well there’s a pillow right there.”

“Not with a pillow!” 

“I really would like to put something on that John.” It was still so red in certain areas. His shoulders were littered with new freckles from the burns. 

“Just the coconut oil.” He groaned, laying his head back down and closing his eyes. 

Neither of you had talked about what would happen once the sunburn was gone and he could resume looking for the Camerons in Nassau. Ward was still in the outer banks but his reach was astronomical, there was no way the two of you were getting off the island with the remaining gold unless you had a strategy and all strategy had gone out the window when the Phantom capsized. You were waiting for John B to make the first mention of the gold but so far he had said nothing about it. You weren’t sure if he was just letting himself recuperate or if he had a plan that he wasn’t letting you in on. An unlikely scenario but you could never be sure with John. 

“Do you know what we’ll do once we can get out of the apartment?” You asked, climbing onto the bed and scooping some coconut oil onto your hands. The tub was solidified but it melted easily on John’s still warm skin. 

Once you’d both been released from the hospital you had found the apartment for rent and decided to stay there, John B living confined to the small space like a fugitive. Everyone thought the two of you were missing but you didn’t want to take the chance that someone might recognize John B from a bulletin and call the consulate. You loved John but he was a fairly distinct character and there was no way that the two of you had escaped to international waters scot free. 

“I don’t know…I don’t know what to do.” He sighed. 

“We could just go right into whatever bank took the money and try to withdraw it, Jason Bourne style.”

John lifted his head to look over at you warily, “I cried yesterday when my back accidentally touched the shower tile. I don’t think I’m gonna be recreating the Bourne Identity.”

“What about the Bourne Ultimatum.”

“I regret not leaving you in the ocean.” John was quiet for a moment as you finished with the coconut oil, wiping your hands on the towel you had been keeping by the bed before spraying him with the vinegar. “Fuck, I should’ve known.”

“It’s good for you.” 

“I just want to go to sleep. Come back to bed. Please.” 

“Okay.” You obliged. 

You situated yourself on the bed, careful of your own, nearly healed, sunburn. Once you were situated John moved, pulling himself over to lay with you, his head on your shoulder and his arm around you. He kissed your skin, feeling the warmth of it beneath his lips.

“We’ll figure this out. Get that money and get back to home.” He promised. “You just have to trust me.”

“I took an open boat into a storm with you JB, I think trust has been established.” You teased. “Now get some rest.”

“I’ve been trying to.”


	19. Marks - John B Routledge/reader

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Request: Hi would you be able to write something about John b (outer banks) were the reader and him have been secretly seeing each other and one day they are all one the boat and she’s wearing one of his shirts over a bikini and the others see the marks???? Love your work btw and sorry if this makes no sense and it OK if you can do it and thank you 💛🌻🌼

No one knew where the unofficial rule of Pogue life in the Outer Banks has come from but you all agreed that it felt like it had been around forever. Was it something Kiara made up in seventh grade when boy/girl parties meant more pressure to kiss whoever the cutest person in the room was? Was it something someone else made up that was overheard and adopted? Had it been around for a long time? It was hard to say, all you did know was that the rule was the rule, no Pogue-on-Pogue macking, and the rule was sacred. It hadn’t been transcribed in stone by a burning bush but it might as well have been the way that everyone talked about it. Some people broke the rule but never your group.

You’d kissed tourons, a odd kook once at a party that you never spoke of again for fear of retribution, but never a Pogue. It was a stupid rule, honestly, but it’d helped you not make terrible decisions. Like when you and JJ got so high in ninth grade that you almost kissed him. But even in the haze the rule was the rule and you didn’t break it. 

“How am I supposed to get a boyfriend when the guys I’m allowed to like leave after two weeks?” You questioned, laying on the end of the HMS Pogue. It was this very conversation that had changed your opinion of the rule. Before that afternoon you followed like it was written law and you were afraid of burning in hell for breaking it. 

But as you turned your head to the side to look over at your friends, at John B steering the boat through the marsh, it suddenly occurred to you that your question wasn’t a vague observation but rather a specific wanting. You didn’t want any guy to be your boyfriend, you wanted John B. You must’ve looked at him a thousand times in your life, you’d known him through bad haircuts, the summer before high school when his face broke out, the year he only wore stupid graphic tee’s from five below, and ill attempted bucket hat phase. All the unpleasant, unattractive moments in life that were supposed to deter you from even thinking about him that way didn’t seem to matter when you gazed at him across the boat. Tanned, unruly hair getting a little close to too long, some ridiculous Hawaiian shirt that he had the inability to button wrong. 

“I’ll be your boyfriend.” Pope offered, handing you a beer.

You sat up to drink and gave him a skeptical look, “you going somewhere I don’t know about?” 

“No Pogue on Pogue macking,” Kiara piped up like she was the spokesperson for it. 

“Oh my god; I know!” You groaned and Pope laughed, “why do you think I’m in this dilemma?” 

“You could date a kook,” JJ teased. 

“Fuck you JJ.” 

“Just mack on some Pogue we don’t know,” John B suggested. You looked over at him and took a long gulp of your beer, if he only knew. 

“You know everyone,” Kiara pointed out. 

“See, Kie understands my dilemma.” 

“Actually, I kinda prefer not being tied down.” Kiara replied.

“Okay, archaic…I’m not trying to be someone’s property or something but it’d be kinda nice to have someone ya know? To not have to flirt with rando tourists all summer.” You complained. It was a legitimate problem. 

“Sure. I hear that.” Pope agreed.

When everyone else had dispersed for the night, Pope back to his house, Kie to the Wreck, JJ to sleep in the hammock outside the Chateau, you and John B sat on the couch watching a movie on your laptop. You had your head on his shoulder and he was slumped against the cushions, far too quiet for a movie about a mega shark attacking people. He hadn’t said much else after your discussion about dating had died down. John B talked the talk, he flirted easily with tourons at parties but you never knew him to really be with anyone. You couldn’t remember a time when he’d ever called someone his girlfriend but you also didn’t know him to be the type to have random hookups. 

“You’re so quiet.” You observed, “we haven’t even ragged on the stupid CGI.”

“The CGI is stupid.” John B said, tilting his head to look at you and smiling. 

“Loser.” You shook your head. You wanted to tell him, you had decided on the boat that you had to. If he wasn’t interested in you, if the idea of dating one of his best friends freaked him out that was fine, you could be friends and move on. But if you just thought about it, obsessed over it, you would make it awkward. It would never be normal between the two of you because all you would focus on would be the what-ifs.

John B shrugged. 

“Hey John B, can I ask you something?” You sat up, shifting away so that you could look at him. 

“You just did.”

“Okay dad,” you rolled your eyes at him when he smiled.

“What’s up?” He asked, turning to face you, movie forgotten. The mega shark could eat whoever he wanted, John was focused on you and that was better than a movie. 

You were never sure how these things worked. Did you say that you liked him and you wanted to be in a relationship with him? Did you tell him you wanted to kiss him? How did you say no to him when he inevitability said he wasn’t interested? He probably liked someone else. Sure, you had never seen him with anyone but that didn’t mean he didn’t like someone else…maybe Kie, everyone liked her. And if he did you couldn’t be mad about that. 

“Hey, E.T., phone home.” John B teased, waving a hand in front of your face.

You laughed and grabbed his wrist, “sorry.” You moved his hand to your lap and held it there, taking a deep breath. You could this. This was John B, best friend, dork, treasure hunter. You talked to him about everything, you could talk to him about this. “The thing is-” You leaned forward, getting a rush of adrenaline as you closed your eyes and pressed your lips against his. 

John B’s eyes went wide as he sat there, his brain working overtime to catch up with what was happening. His free hand gripped the back of the couch as he leaned more into the kiss. When you’d mentioned wanting to date someone, he never imagined that you could be thinking about him. You’d been friends for a long time but that didn’t erase the fact that you were attractive. He’d never do anything that you didn’t want but there were plenty of times when he stared a little too long or hugged you a little too long. He was sure JJ and Pope had too, it wasn’t anything unusual for a group so close to have crushes on each other but he couldn’t even wrap his mind around the two of you. 

As the kiss deepened you let go of his hand to hold onto his shoulders, shifting yourself to straddle his lap. John B wrapped his arm around your waist, pulling you against him completely as he laid on the couch, the sudden motion making you yelp a little. 

“Oh my god, JB!” You laughed; foreheads pressed together as you laid there on top of him. 

“So uh, definitely broke a rule or two,” he joked. He watched as you sat up in his lap. 

-

That was two weeks ago and in that time you and John B had almost perfected your ability to sneak around. Though no amount of perfectly crafted excuses, late nights at the Chateau without your friends, or actively pretending you were interested in other people when you were at a party could have helped you avoid the most obvious clue that one of you might be fooling around behind the group’s back. 

You were on the HMS Pogue with the others, sitting cross-legged at the front with JJ smoking while Kiara and Pope swam. It would be dusk soon and the air was getting colder this far out. You would have just put your shorts and shirt back on but JJ had thrown you in the water earlier, fully dressed, and now you sat there, cold, with your wet clothes hanging over the side of the boat. 

“Just give me your t-shirt.” You begged. You’d been asking JJ for his shirt to keep you warm for the last ten minutes.

“No. Then I’ll be cold.”

“So much for chivalry.”

“I’m sorry,” Pope called, “is your complaint that JJ isn’t chivalrous?” 

“Yeah you’re right, my bad.” You stuck your tongue out at JJ and he smiled in return. John B was at the wheel, wearing your favorite of his numerous Hawaiian shirts. The one with the girls surfing. “Hey John B!” You called, leaning toward him and smiling.

“Yes?” John asked, smirking at you and raising an eyebrow in question.

“Can I have your shirt? JJ’s a douche and won’t give me his.”

“You’re such a baby.” JJ laughed.

“I guess I can spare it.” John replied, unbuttoning the only two buttons he’d done up and slipping the shirt off. You smiled, holding your hand out to him to accept the shirt. 

Once he handed it over he walked back to the wheel, JJ sliding his sunglasses down his nose dramatically and letting out a low whistle. “Hot damn John B, didn’t know you liked it so rough.” 

“What?” John whipped around, looking at JJ questioningly. The other boy slipped his sunglasses into his necklace and signed toward John B. 

“You have, uh, scratches…on your back.” You supplied. JJ was still smirking.

“Wait what?” The commotion had caught Kiara and Pope’s attention, both swimming over to the boat and climbing in. 

John’s eyes shot instinctively over at you and you looked away as he reached back and felt the slightly raised welts on his back from the previous night. None of the other pogues had stuck around last night, leaving you and John B in the Chateau alone. 

JJ was watching your behavior and, when you turned away from him, noticed something off. “Hey Kie, hand me a water?”

“Seriously JJ?” She tossed the water at him as Pope followed up his “wait what” with twenty other questions. Who was it? When did you meet them? How long have you known them? Where they a pogue, a touron, worse? A kook? 

JJ, meanwhile, spilled some water on his fingers and reached over, rubbing your neck without warning, “what the fuck JJ!” You shouted, jumping to your feet and moving away from him. 

“Think I can answer your who Pope, unless that’s a coincidence.” He joked, pointing to the newly revealed hickey on your neck. You’d covered it with bronzer and foundation that morning but hours in the sun had sweat some of the makeup off and JJ had rubbed the rest.

“Oh my god!” Kiara grabbed your arm, turning you to look at the mark, “oh my god! For christ sake, we have a rule.”

“It’s a fucking stupid rule Kie and you know it.” John cut in immediately.

“Can’t argue with that.” JJ announced.

“Shut up Jay, you aren’t helping.”

“Guys…why didn’t you just tell us?” Pope asked.

“Cause I knew exactly how Kie would react.” 

“We have a rule for a reason! What happens when you break up and then shit is awkward because we have to choose who to be friends with?” She argued.

“We aren’t gonna break up.” You insisted.

“You don’t know that, all summer you’ve been ‘I just want a boyfriend to mack on, it doesn’t have to be serious’ and so what? Some tourist won’t do because two weeks is too short but you and John B are gonna hook up? Until when?”

“Whoa, don’t turn on me!” You snapped. 

“She’s got a point…not just you,” JJ quickly clarified. “But both of you…what happens when you. get sick of whatever this is?”

“I’m not ‘getting sick’ of anything and we’re just hooking up for the summer Kie,” John B said, looking between his friends. 

“You say that-”

“I love her.” He cut in. “I love you, not exactly how I imagined telling you but…I love you.” 

You bit your lip as you smiled, “I love you too.” You had known that first day on John B’s couch that there was no way the feelings you. had for him could be contained to a random hookup. You weren’t just dating for the summer to break up, this was something real. Something serious. 

“Good, now I’m turning this fucking boat around and all of you can go the fuck home.” 

“You’re kicking us off the boat cause Kie threw a tantrum.”

“I did not throw a tantrum JJ!” Kiara said, smacking his arm.

“You kinda did.” 

“I’m not kicking you off the boat cause you threw a tantrum-”

“I didn’t throw a tantrum!” She laughed this time as she cut John B off. 

“I’m dropping you off cause you definitely don’t wanna be around for the next couple of hours.” John B announced, glancing over at you and winking.

“Oh my god!” Pope groaned, “can you guys not talk about it.”


	20. Hawk's Nest - John B Routledge/reader

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Request: Hii! Can we get prompt 22 (kiss prompts) with John B??

“Is this where you take all your girls John B?” You teased, following him up the stairs to the Hawks Nest. He’d promised you what he claimed would be an amazing view. 

“I take all my girls to the lighthouse but I was double booked today so I bought you here instead.” John B replied, not missing a beat. He glanced back at you and smiled. 

“God I’m so lucky you pencilled me in.” 

July in the Outer Banks was Peak tourist season. The beaches were crowded, all the rentals were filled with bratty kids on vacation with their families looking for some ‘summer fun’ while simultaneously rebelling from the all-american summer vacation. You were a crossroads between pogue and touron. You showed up in June and left before school started in September; custody had you spending the summer with your dad and the school year with your mom. It was a routine that you were used too, as was summer on the island. You hung with pogues, sure, but not John B’s crew. They were a whole level above any of the other pogues on the cut. You saw him at parties or around the dock when you stopped by to visit your dad but you hadn’t talked to him before. Not until the party on Saturday night at least. 

A pogue party some of your friends threw together last minute. John B’s crew had brought the keg and as far as meet-cutes went, over a keg at a house party wasn’t the most romantic but you went with it. John B offered you a drink and your friend accepted on your behalf. 

“I’ve seen you around right?” He asked, holding your cup but not giving it to you.

“I’m not sure.” 

Seen you around meant noticed you. There was no other way to interpret that statement. John B had seen you around. You’d obviously seen him around, sometimes, even in the summer, the Outer Banks felt tiny. It was like everyone knew everyone and everyone definitely knew John B. 

John B pursed his lips and squinted, stroking his chin for added dramatic effect. He hummed and you cracked a smile at him, “do you work at the Wreck?” 

“No.” 

“Do you work on the docks?” 

“No.” You shook your head, “I’m not mopping kook boats, sorry.”

“Hey don’t knock it til you try it.” 

“Can I get that beer then?” You asked, reaching for it. John B stepped away, raising his arm above his head to keep it from you. 

“Hold on…if I get this next one wrong, beer’s on me.” He replied. 

“Didn’t realize there was a charge. What if you get it right?” 

“How do you feel about the Summer Movie nights on figure 8?” John B asked. 

“Kooky.” You replied. John B laughed so hard he snorted and you couldn’t help laughing at him. “It wasn’t that funny.”

“No, no it was terrible. Oh my god.” He shook his head, his dramatic, serious, demeanor had been ruined by your joke and he couldn’t get it back now. He’d almost spilled your drink on his shirt from laughing so hard. “But, now I know how I know you. Your Buddy’s daughter.” 

“You knew that from the beginning.” You accused. 

“It’s true, I just really wanted to ensure our date.” John B replied, passing you the red cup. 

You took a sip and cringed, “this is so gross.” 

“That’s some prime all-american beer right there is what it is.” JJ said, coming up beside you and throwing an arm over your shoulders. 

“I hate to break it to you but I’ve already staked my claim here JJ.” John B announced. 

“I hate to break it to both of you but this seems suspiciously orchestrated.” You replied, looking between both boys. 

The blond smiled and released you from his hold, “my work here is done, time to go mingle.”

“So…I maybe asked JJ to wingman me.” 

“His idea of wingmaning you is to hit on me?” You teased. As you spoke John B came around the side of the keg, placing a hand on your lower back and nodding his head toward the porch. You let him guide you out onto the screened in room taking a seat on the arm of the only available chair, an old laz-e-boy, while John B sat on the seat. You kicked off your sandals and tucked your feet beneath his thigh, balancing rather expertly. Though the arm he threw around your back helped. 

“So John B, how long have you been concocting this plan to seduce me?” You asked, taking another sip of beer and grimacing at the taste. 

-

There were summer movie nights, days spent surfing or taking the boat out on the marsh, hanging around the Chateau. He took you to the church his dad used to take him to and the lighthouse and all the places on the island that he liked the most. Neither of you talked about the end of the summer even though you both knew it was approaching. In reality you were only three hours inside of the mainland but three hours felt like eternity when you thought about. 

The dates were fun, you loved hanging out with his friends, John B was as close to perfect as they came, but the closer it got to September the more you thought about the possibility of John B breaking up with you. When he invited you to the Kildare Hawk’s Nest you thought that maybe this would be the place. John B seemed like the type to go all out just to break things off. 

“How many steps are there on this thing?” You asked, stopping for a moment to see how far off the ground you already were, “because I’m starting to think you just like to trigger my fear of heights.” You had told him how freaked out you got from heights the first time he took you to the church and told you to climb up the ladder. 

“It’s all an elaborate plan to have you throwing yourself into my arms,” he replied, “I promise the view is worth it.”

“So far it’s just trees.”

“I meant this view,” John B motioned to himself, waving his hand up and down. You rolled your eyes at his antics, walking past him the rest of the way up the stairs. 

Above the trees you had a view of the coastline. Not as clear as the lighthouse view had been but still spectacular. Worth the endless flights of stairs up to the landing. John B came up behind you, wrapping his arms around your waist and leaning down to kiss your shoulder. You leaned back against John B, tilting your head back to look at him. 

“I take back all the snarky things I said, this is really nice.” You said, kissing him. Summer could last forever if it was up to you. 

“So what you’re saying is I’m the best boyfriend ever.”

John B had never used the term boyfriend before. His friends had referred to you as his girlfriend but you weren’t sure exactly what he considered your relationship. You were dating, exclusively, and he wasn’t shy about letting people know that you were together in some capacity but he hadn’t used that term yet. 

“Yes, you are the best boyfriend ever.” You replied. 

“I knew it.” John B squeezed your sides, lifting you off the ground and spinning you around.

“Oh my god! JB, not when we’re up here. You’re gonna kill me.” You yelped, smacking at his arm. 

He laughed, setting you back on the wooden platform. “I’m not gonna kill you! That’s not very ‘best boyfriend ever’ of me.” 

“Remains to be seen.” You twisted and John B loosened his grip to allow you to turn around in his arms. You wrapped your arms around his neck, fingers twisting in the long curls at the base of his neck. “It’s almost the end of August.”

“Is that why you’ve been so quiet lately?” John B asked. He’d picked up on your more contemplative mood recently and had been trying to decide how to ask you what was wrong. He’d been worried, honestly, that it was something terrible like you breaking up with him. Summer ending was low on his list of concerns.

“Yeah…I’ve just been thinking like…what are we gonna do?” 

“What do you mean?” He asked.

“Well, I know I’ll be kinda far away but I really don’t want us to break up.” 

“Good,” John replied, “good, cause I don’t want us to either.”

“Oh, good, okay.” You nodded. 

“Did you think I was gonna break up with you?” He asked. 

“I don’t know, I’ll be on the mainland until Christmas.” 

“I happen to love the ferry.”

You laughed, pulling John B’s hair to guide him into a kiss. He smiled into the kiss, pulling you closer to him. His hands squeezed your hips as his tongue ran over your bottom lip. You opened your mouth, letting him deepen the kiss. Neither of you heard the footsteps on the stairs, or noticed when someone came onto the landing with the two of you.

When a something banged against the railing and you heard a man’s voice shout “hey” you practically jumped away from John B. Both of you turned to see Shoupe standing there, gripping the railing. You darted behind John B, biting your lip as you looked at Shoupe breathing heavy from climbing up the stairs. 

“Did you miss the sign?” 

“What sign?” John B asked. 

“The sign at the bottom of the stairs that said this death trap is closed to the public because of the storm.” Shoupe replied.

“You brought me up here to make out with me and it’s closed? Because of the storm?” You whispered. “You could’ve killed me.”

“It wasn’t gonna collapse.” John B insisted.

“It could have collapsed.” Shoupe said. 

“John B!” 

“Both of you.” Shoupe cut in, getting your attention again, “down, now.”


	21. All That - JJ Maybank x reader

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Request: Would you write #10 on the 50 types of kisses prompt list with jj? You are killing the obx writing!

“Okay, but I wouldn’t even freak out if I was you I mean, this is JJ we’re talking about. He kisses everybody.” Pope said, stretching out across your bed. 

You were the first to say that you were close with all your friends and that was entirely true but there was no denying that you were closest to Pope. So it had been him that you’d texted a 911 to when you got home from surfing with JJ. 

“He kisses everybody on the cheek Pope. This was no cheek kiss. And technically, we kissed each other.” You admitted. 

“You kissed him back?” 

“Yes.” 

“Okay, explain what happened.”

You sighed, spinning once more in your office chair. It was no use explaining again. You had gone surfing with JJ, not so out of the ordinary though usually at least one of the others tagged along. You weren’t the greatest surfer in the world so you liked when Kiara or John B or Pope went with you because you were convinced it distracted from your questionable ability. 

But it wasn’t you and JJ and somebody else. It was just the two of you. A whole afternoon of just the two of you. Surfing out far enough that it really felt like you were in some sort of timeless bubble. A black hole in the middle of space where nothing existed but the two of you and you never wanted it to end. Sure, you’d thought about JJ before. It would be a lie to say that you didn’t have the tiniest of crushes on all your guy friends but that afternoon felt so different. 

“I don’t know he was just like…sun kissed.”

“I’m gonna barf.” Pope cut in, “can’t you tell Kie all this.”

“You wanted me to tell you want happened.”

“Yeah in a ‘first we went to the beach’ ‘then we walked home’ kind of way. I didn’t want you to talk about how hot you find him.” Pope replied, “this is JJ we’re talking about. He once snorted smarties up his nose and had an allergic reaction to the red dye.” 

“I know.” 

“God, okay, proceed.” He groaned. 

“So anyway, we went to the beach and we were surfing and then we decided to get food.” 

“How does this factor into him kissing you?”

“It factors into us kissing each other because…I don’t know, all events leading up to the kiss.” You shrugged. 

Once it started to get particularly late you both agreed to go get food. You figured the Wreck was the obvious go to, maybe he’d text everyone and tell them to meet up. Only he didn’t. Instead he just offered to buy you a slushie at the 7-11 and some fries at the pizza place down the street. Alone. Without your other friends. Blue raspberry for you and cola for him. 

“Not important.” Pope mentioned, rolling over to grab JJ’s hacky-sac off the night stand so he could toss it in the air. 

“Could I tell you the story without five million interruptions?” You asked. 

“Basically you and JJ kissed right?”

“Yeah he dropped me off here and I was like, I’ll see you later and we hugged and then we kissed.” You replied.

“So what now?” Pope asked.

“What do you mean?”

“Are you gonna act like nothing happened or are you gonna tell him you like him or what?” Pope asked, sitting up on your bed. 

“I don’t know. That’s why I called you…I don’t know what to do.” You stood up, starting to pace your room. “I wanted to just like talk through it. Like, do I like him? Do I wanna date him? Was this just like an accidental thing? I don’t know…like. God, why does this have to be so frustrating.” You sighed.

“Maybe you should talk this through with him and not with me since, ya know, I’m not the one you kissed.”

“Okay.” 

“Okay? Seriously?” Pope asked, “you’re seriously gonna talk to him?” 

“It’s JJ, like you said, I’ve known JJ forever. We can talk this out.” You said grabbing your phone and your keys, heading out of your room and down the stairs. Pope ran down the stairs after you. 

“Now? You’re going now?” 

“Yeah, he’s got third shift at the hotel.” You replied, “lock the door!”

-

You bypassed the lobby of the hotel and snuck into the kitchen. You’d gone through the kitchen a million times with JJ when you came by his work. It was passed dinner hour but there were still people in the kitchen milling about. You came in the back door, stealing a cup of coffee while you waited for JJ to appear between the double doors. The other workers in the kitchen didn’t pay you any attention while you waited for JJ to be done busing tables in the dining room. 

When he came through the doors and caught sight of you waiting he ditched his basin of dishes and came over, hugging you and lifting you off the ground a little bit, “what are you doing here?”

“I actually wanted to talk to you.” Cutting right to the chase was your best bet, otherwise you’d chicken out. You’d almost turned around twice on the drive here. 

“Oh,” his arms loosened and he released you. “Hey Andrew I’m taking five.” He called, grabbing your hand and dragging you into the service hallway. “So, what’s up?”

“I just, wanted to talk to you about earlier.” You replied. “Like I feel like we kissed and then I just cut out and I know it’s not really a great time right now but like I was at home thinking it over and trying to decide where we were at now and like-”

JJ leaned forward, interrupting your rambled speech by kissing you. A second kiss. You kissed him back, hands on the back of his neck to hold yourself steady. The moment seemed to amplify all the good thoughts that had been swarming in your brain on the way here, all the positives that suggested maybe you and JJ had been more than friends, waiting for the moment to tell each other. But didn’t it feel more natural than that. A kiss goodbye at the end of the afternoon had felt so normal, like it was supposed to happen all along. 

You pulled away first, “you can’t just interrupt me by kissing me. I need answers.”

“About what?” JJ asked, smiling at you. When a few people came out of the kitchen he pulled you around the hallway, out of view, taking a seat on a few crates and pulling you down to sit beside him.

“About what happened today. We just like…I kissed you and you kissed me.”

“I don’t follow, where’s the question?” He asked. 

“What happens now?”

“Fingers crossed; a lot more kissing.” 

“Oh good, good.” You nodded your head. The one great fear you’d had on the way here was that JJ would tell you it was nothing, just his usual dose of affection and not some profound moment when everything fell into place with the universe or whatever and led to an unspoken confession of feelings.

“Maybank!” someone called, voice carrying to where the two of you were, “break’s up!” 

“Gotta go.” JJ stood, turning back to you still sitting on the crate and leaning down, kissing you. It was longer than a goodbye kiss, softer than the one he’d interrupted you with in the hallway. “I’m off at eleven, we’ll talk then?” He promised after he broke the kiss, backing up down the hall. 

“Really?” You couldn’t help being genuinely surprised that he wanted to talk. 

“Yeah, ya know…talk…makeout…it’s all pretty similar.”

“It is not JJ!” You called down the hall, “we still didn’t talk about the kiss.”

“Which one?”

“JJ.”

“We’ll talk. Promise.” And then he was disappearing back into the kitchen and you knew that night, when he snuck through your bedroom window still in his bus boy uniform, there would be absolutely no talking whatsoever.


	22. Yellow  - JJ Maybank x reader

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Summary: During an anxiety attack at a party JJ calms you down and from there a relationship begins to form between the two of you. Autistic reader.

You sat on the side of the house, stiff as a board, breathing so rapidly you thought you were going to send yourself into an asthmatic attack. No, that was nuts, you weren’t asthmatic you were just having a panic attack. But you couldn’t catch your breath and your head felt like you were 25 feet in the air but trapped on the ground at the same time. Your heart was beating in flutters, hands shaking, you were aware that you were crying but you didn’t know how. You couldn’t feel the tears, but your eyes stung and your vision was blurry, were you wearing your glasses? You couldn’t see anything. 

You heard someone’s voice, tinny, like they were calling to you through a tunnel, were they far away. Something touched your arm and you flinched, pressing yourself further into the side of the house. Where were you. 

They kept talking, voice a distant memory but it was happening right now, in slow motion in front of your face, someone’s mouth was moving. 

“Call my mom.” You managed, voice much less clear than it sounded in your ears. It was hoarse and your words mixed with sobs as you anchored yourself into the grass with your fingers. 

Whoever was there took your backpack, rummaging through the pockets until they found your phone. “Passcode?” They asked, holding it up to show you the lock screen. 

The glow of the phone bounced off of every surface and you leaned forward, choking back the sudden urge to throw up. Whoever they were placed a hand on your back, just below your neck. Not too much pressure, it was gentle but it was there and you felt yourself following the motion of their hand running circles in your mind. 

“Alright, okay, your safe. Your safe.” Was all they offered, unsure really, what else they could possibly say in this situation. 

Your fingers stopped digging into the earth slowly, the tension leaving them first. They ached. Next your shoulders, still crying but no longer sobbing, you could hear your heart beat but it sounded like a heart beat again. Not drums banging in your ears or thunder breaking in the sky. Your shoulders sagged beneath the weight of their hand and you felt them grasp your arms, guiding you into a more comfortable position. They sat behind you, arms wrapping around your body while you leaned into them, your whole weight using them to stabilize you. 

When it was over, when the attack on your entire being subsided and your brain could function once more you would be embarrassed, you would practically send yourself into another panic attack trying to apologise. Your body was too tired to comply with your brain right now though. Everything felt heavy, like you were anchored down to the earth. And you felt lips pressed against your temple making you close your eyes as the person holding you placed a kiss against your cold skin. 

“You’re safe,” they promised. When you tried to move they shushed you, hand brushing sweaty hair from your forehead. “It’s okay, you don’t have to move.”

“I’m sorry,” you apologized, more because you didn’t think you could move even though you wanted to. You wanted to get up and run away, hopefully never see whoever was holding you in their arms. Tan arms, plenty of bracelets, a few rings. You leaned your head against their arm, warm skin soothing yours. 

“It’s okay.” 

-

You’d fallen asleep there on the side of someone’s house in a stranger’s arms, exhausted from an episode. You had woken up with the sun, careful as you removed yourself from the other person. You didn’t need him to wake up or try to ask you if you were okay or if you needed anything or try to pretend that you hadn’t totally ruined the party for him. You were certain that calming some random girl down was not on the top of his priority list for the night before. Taking your phone and your bag, you walked home. 

For two days after that you hung around the house. It was too many people all at once and you were still exhausted as you tried to regulate yourself. You couldn’t stay in forever though, according to your parents, and you left the house on Thursday for therapy. You omitted the tragic end of the party, embarrassed that you hadn’t tried any coping techniques when you felt yourself starting to panic, instead you’d just kept going until it was too much and you were tripping out on the side of the house. Not the best summer story you could think of. Your two days inside hadn’t been totally unproductive. 

When you’d been sitting there in his arms, silently naming all the colors in his bracelets as he held you and promised you were safe, you’d thought about making a new bracelet for him. Two days later you considered the fact that he would probably be happy to never see you again but you’d made him a bracelet anyway, varying shades of yellow woven together. It sat in the front pocket of your back pack just in case you saw him somewhere on the island and he didn’t immediately hide from you. 

It was after therapy, as you walked home that you saw him. A little coincidental for your taste but there he was, standing with a friend on the other side of the street. They were talking and you decided today wasn’t a good day. Two days was not enough time to compartmentalize everything that had happened and seem totally well adjusted. Could you blame the freak out on drugs? Was that plausible? Probably not. He’d definitely think you were weird if you gave him the bracelet. There was no way that was happening now. 

“Hey!” His voice carried across the street. Louder than he’d been two nights ago. “Hey.”

You kept walking, hoping maybe he’d seen someone else that he knew. But then he was appearing in front of you, forcing you to stop walking or collide with him. “Oh, uh, hi.” You twisted the front of your striped shirt in your hands, looking at him and then just passed. Deep breathes, you could do this. You were good at talking to people, everyone said so. 

“Hey,” he repeated, “I was looking for you the other day, you like, disappeared.”

“I had to get home.” Was he concerned or was he just saying that to be nice? No, he’d crossed the street to talk to you so it must have been concern. Or curiosity. 

“Are you alright?”

“Right now?”

“Right now. The other night.” He shrugged, “I’m JJ.”

“I’m okay, sorry for the other night.”

“Bad trip?” Maybe drugs weren’t so farfetched.

You nodded. He invited you to hang out with him and his friend, Pope, and you accepted because wouldn’t that be a nice story to tell your therapist next Thursday. She loved when you talked to new people. You got dinner with them while the bracelet you’d made him burned a hole in your bag. Another time, now was too soon.

When you went home that night you made another one just to calm your nerves. 

He invited you out the next day and the next and you had trouble saying no because you liked him but he was exhausting. His friends seemed to be all personality, each demanding attention at exactly the same moment and you knew there was so much you missed when you hung out with all of them together, so many little pieces that you couldn’t concentrate on at the same time. They liked to do a million different things in one day. And they especially liked going on the boat. 

-

You hated the boat. Really what you hated was the water. It was deep and you could tread but you weren’t a great swimmer and you’d imagined your death by drowning enough times that every time you got in the water you were convinced it was the last. The anxiety of it ate at you. On boat days you went home earlier than usual with an upset stomach and you laid in your closet for hours trying to cocoon yourself into some kind of comfortable state.

They always swam when they went out on the boat and you always promised you’d go in but never did. You held onto the same beer all afternoon but only drank half. You laughed when someone else laughed at a joke and you took at least one hit from JJ’s blunt just so it seemed like you smoked since he thought that you did. 

It was exhausting. And every time he asked you thought about saying no. But you never did. It’d be one thing if he texted you but he usually showed up at your house, as if he knew you couldn’t say no to him in person. 

Today you brought your backpack on the boat with you. Your therapist suggested bringing something that could calm you when you felt yourself getting anxious. You brought your box of thread to make friendship bracelets. The entire front pocket of your backpack was filled with ones you’d already made with JJ in mind. 

“What are you doing?” JJ asked, halfway through the afternoon, as you sat in the boat. Everyone else had been paying attention to something Kiara was saying but JJ’s always loud voice caught their attention. 

“Oh, I’m making a bracelet.” You offered, keeping your eyes on the thread that you had attached to a carabiner on your water bottle. 

JJ moved over next to you on the bench, leaning his chin against your shoulder as he looked down at the bracelet. “Make me one?”

“What?” You turned your head, shifting away a little so you could see his face. He was so close you wondered if he could see the imperfections on your skin. 

“Will you make me a bracelet?” He asked. 

“Yeah, yeah…I uh, what color?” You asked, thinking of all the ones you already had for him in your bag. 

“You choose.” He moved his head, but only so that he could watch you better. 

You started up again, having to fix two different knots as JJ sat there, almost touching you but not completely. You could feel his breath on your skin, and his body was so close you could feel the warmth of him. “You’re very close to me.” You pointed out.

JJ looked at you, brow furrowed in confusion. “You want me to move?”

No. But you were two seconds from dropping the water bottle. You could already feel the tingling in your fingers. They would shake next and the tingling feeling would move up your arms. Some one jumped in the water and the splash made you jump, water bottle rolling out of your hands. JJ got up, grabbing the bottle and handing it back to you.

“You alright?”

“Fine.” You wanted to ask how much longer they were planning on being out but you didn’t want anyone to feel like they had to turn around on your account. You could make it the rest of the boat trip. Deep breaths. You searched for colors and shapes that you could silently name, running over and over them until you felt yourself starting to calm down enough to resume your bracelet making. 

When JJ texted you the next morning about hanging out at John B’s house you said you were sick. New friends were exhausting. You needed a break that lasted longer than a night. 

-

You ignored your phone for the next few days, falling back into your usual routine. Your mom tried to coax you into a movie day or shopping but you’d spent too much time around people to want to spend even more time around them. A crowded shopping trip or a stuffy theater? 

You settled on watching the movies in your room and listening to quiet music. You were on your third day of ignoring your phone when JJ traded texting you for seeing you in person. He wasn’t entirely sure what he had done but he was determined to get to the bottom of it. When he got to your house, he found you outside on the hammock reading. 

“Hey,” JJ sat on the hammock without warning, rocking it just enough you to grip the edge. His feet stayed on the ground, steadying it. “I’ve been trying to text you.”

“Sorry, I haven’t been feeling well.” You lied. Was he upset? Maybe, he didn’t look upset though. He looked fairly unphased but you knew how hard he was to read; it took all your attention sometimes. 

“You wanna go on the boat today?”

“I don’t know if I’m up for hanging out with everyone.” That was too much pressure.

“It can just be us.”

“Okay.” You agreed, surprised that he wanted to spend time with just you. 

The boat with just JJ was still a boat and your irrational fear of the water still existed though with less people you didn’t imagine dying by capsized boat as an option. Though maybe it could still capsize. Another, larger boat could hit it and you’d sink. JJ steered, watching you as he took the HMS Pogue out in the marsh. You weren’t watching the water. He’d taken girls out before and they always watched the water or used the front of the boat to sunbathe while they talked endlessly. You were staring at your lap, twisting your striped shirt in your hands. 

“You don’t wear any of your bracelets?” JJ asked, realizing for the first time that your wrists were bare. 

“I make them for other people.” You replied, crossing your arms so he couldn’t see your wrists anymore.

“Did you make mine yet?” 

“Oh, yeah. Can I move when it’s moving?” You asked, he’d stopped driving but the boat was shifting in the wind.

“It’s not.” 

“A little bit.”

“It’s just the wind.” He shrugged, grabbing a beer from the cooler and offering you one. 

You were careful still, holding the side when you stood up. You grabbed your backpack and opened the front pocket, rummaging through until you found the bracelet you were looking for. Yellow. You held it out to him, exchanging the bracelet for a beer. JJ turned it over in his fingers, looking at the pattern and the different shades of yellow in it. 

“I didn’t expect it to be so…one color.”

“I can make you a different one, if you don’t like that.” You offered. You found the bench again, happy to be sitting. 

“No, I like it.” JJ insisted. He sat beside you, holding out the bracelet with his hand overturned, “can you tie it on for me?”

“Sure.” You pushed his other bracelets up to wrap it around his wrist, fingers brushing against his skin. 

“Will you teach me how to make these?” He asked. 

“Sure, why?” 

JJ shrugged, “I could make you one?”

“Okay.” You smiled. 

“Why yellow?” 

“Yellow usually calms me down when I’m having a bad time,” you admitted, “since you calmed me down during my freak out I though yellow was a good color for you.” 

“That was some trip you were on.” 

“Hey JJ?” You started, crossing your arms to keep from pulling at your shirt. You had thought about telling him that it wasn’t just a trip, trying to decide what sort of reaction he might have. It’d always been you with him and friends never just the two of you together. You liked him, not just because he had held you through an episode but because he was him. Magnetic. Incredible. Calming. 

“Yeah?” he shifted in his seat so he could look at you better, close like always but this time it didn’t make you so nervous.

You uncrossed your arms, twisting your hands together and looking down at your lap. The explanation came in waves. You stumbled over words trying to tell him that you hadn’t been tripping over weed but that it was just a part of your brain. While you talked JJ stayed quiet, his hands reaching for yours and threading his fingers with yours. He listened while you told him that you hated the boat because you were always afraid that you were going to drown. He didn’t tell you that was irrational or that you were crazy he just listened. 

You finished, waiting for him to say something to you but he just sat there, “So?” 

“I don’t…know that much about like, stuff like that.” JJ admitted.

“Neither do I,” you laughed, “I just know living with it.” 

“Should we go back?” He asked. He moved his hands so he could hold yours better, thumbs rubbing along the insides of your wrists. 

“I kinda wanna go in the water.” You replied, looking over your shoulder at the calm water. You always thought about going in the water when you came out with everyone but somehow going in with everyone made you more anxious than being on the boat in the first place. 

“Okay, lets go in.” JJ said, standing up and pulling his shirt over his head. 

“You go first,” you replied, taking your shirt and shorts off. JJ wrapped an arm around your shoulders and pulled you close, kissing your forehead.


	23. Swings - JJ Maybank  x reader

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Request: Hello babes! I adore your writing so much and I was wondering if you could do a JJ imagine with prompts #26 and #31? And make it really fluffy too? ;))

“Okay you could never eat Doritos again or every time you ate a Dorito it would have a little bit of person dust on it?” You asked, knees bent over one of the uneven bars at the playground as you hung upside down. JJ was sitting on top of the other one, knuckles white and arms extended as he kept his balance. You didn’t have the best view of it but you could imagine the definition in his arms as he sat there, muscles tense to prevent him from losing his grip. 

He’d been on the monkey bars earlier though he was too tall to use them properly so he settled for trying to do flips on them. He landed one and narrowly missed sending himself to the hospital with the other. The park was fenced in, off limits at night to stop teenagers, like yourselves, from hanging out on the playground equipment and smoking. After the fourth disturbance call from the nosey woman across the street last year the fence had gone up. Which prevented nothing. JJ parked his dad’s truck or your mom’s minivan right beside the fence, giving you a boost over. 

“Person dust?” JJ questioned, teetering forward just so before righting himself. 

He’d abandon this activity soon for the swings. He liked to smoke and swing when the two of you broke into the playground together. He entertained your love of slides, monkey bars, and whatever other pieces of equipment they filled the playground with but swings were his favorite. They had been since fourth grade. The year after he met John B he met you. Not to say that you hadn’t been going to the exact same elementary school with him since you were six but he wasn’t exactly the best at paying attention and half the time his classes were a blur, as were the people in them. You weren’t memorable until fourth grade when the recess aid insisted that he let someone else use the swing. You had gotten on and he’d stood there pestering you about how long you would be the entire time you had your turn. 

“You know like, how dust is 80% human skin or whatever.” You replied. All the blood was starting to rush to your head and you knew it was just a matter of time before you would have to dismount. 

“That’s disgusting.”

“So no Doritos?” 

“What about the tacos?” JJ asked, hoping down from his bar and bending to the side as if he was going to look at you upside down the way you were looking at him. 

“What?” 

“Can I still do the Doritos tacos?” 

“No; no Doritos is no Doritos.” You replied. 

“I’ll eat the person dust.” JJ replied, sounding sure of himself. 

“You’re so gross.” You let your fingers brush the synthetic woodchips before reaching out to JJ, “help me up?”

JJ crouched down, pushing your back to sit you up on the bar, your head spinning a little as you slid off the bar and met the ground with your feet. JJ was quick to grab you, wrapping his arm around your waist and holding you against his side. Your balance was always off when you hung upside down like that and still you insisted on it. 

You looked up at JJ as he surveyed the swing set on the other part of the playground, waiting for you to be stable enough to walk before he took on the swings. He looked so pretty at dusk, the sun setting made everything look bathed in reds and oranges and JJ especially looked sublime like that. “I love you.” You said, eyes tracing the lines of his face. 

“What?” JJ looked down at you suddenly, eyebrows furrowed. 

“Oh my god, did I just say that out loud?” You paled; you hadn’t seriously just told him you loved him while waiting for the blood rush to pass. 

JJ pulled you further in, tucking you against his chest and kissing your forehead. You closed your eyes when his lips brushed your skin, trying to subside the sudden warmth of embarrassment from your face. He hadn’t let go of you or rejected you. Those were both good signs. 

“We can mack on each other for like, the rest of our lives but we have too share an apartment with Pope or you can live on figure 8 forever but we can’t hang out ever again.” JJ asked. 

You pulled away from him enough that you could tilt your head to look him in the eye. “I just told you I loved you and you’re hitting me with a ‘would you rather’? Kinda inopportune time babe.” You replied.

“So figure 8?” He asked, smiling at you.

“No,” you laughed, nudging him. “Who needs a fancy house? I’d much rather live with you and Pope for the rest of my life.” 

“I love you too.” He said.

“Yeah?” 

“I’ve been in love with you my entire life,” JJ replied, “since the day I met you.” 

“Yeah?” You smiled, pulling away from him to head toward the swings, “you have receipts on that Maybank?”

“You don’t trust my word?”

“After you told me you’d eat person dust and want to start a thrupple with me and Pope?” You asked, sitting on the swing. JJ came up behind you, hands grasping the chains and pulling you back against him. You straightened your legs so that you could hold yourself up. 

“I do not want to start a thrupple with you and Pope.” JJ replied, leaning forward and kissing your cheek. “Pope would get way too jealous.” 

You turned your head so that you could kiss him, “I can’t compete with Pope.” 

“Don’t feed his ego.”

“So you’ve really loved me since fourth grade, cause that’s what you’re saying right? That you’ve loved me since fourth grade?” You asked, picking up your feet as JJ released the swing. He stayed behind you, pushing when you swung back toward him. 

“Kindergarten.”

“What do you mean kindergarten?” You asked him, looking back.

“In kindergarten when you pretended to be a werewolf and bit my arm.” JJ replied, licking his lips and smiling at you. 

“I wasn’t pretending…it was a very serious affliction.” You laughed. “I didn’t think you remembered.”

“How could I forget?” He said, catching your swing again and pulling you back, leaning forward to kiss you one more time. When the swing gave toward gravity he tripped forward a little, trying to chase it, still kissing you. You smiled into the kiss, twisting around and reaching up with one hand behind his neck to draw him closer.


	24. Love's a Waste - JJ Maybank x reader

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Request: can you please do a jj x reader story where they’ve been dating for a while but have a really bad fight over something but in the end the make up? I love your stories btw :)
> 
> Request: Hey! I was wondering if I could request something with JJ where you are crying after a fight with him and you’re like “I don’t even remember why I’m crying but I can’t stop” and he comes back to apologize? Thanks!

You sat on the deck of the Hawk’s Nest, legs dangling over the edge as you stared at your phone. The screen kept lighting up, your lock screen picture of JJ illuminating your face as texts from him rolled in. You’d read the first few, knowing that he’d know that you read them and purposely didn’t answer. They were standard.

-Where are you?-

-Text me-

-Seriously, where are you?-

-Please call me or something-

-At least call Kie-

After that you just ignored them. You seriously contemplated throwing your phone into the reserve, let it hit the ground and see if it survived. 

When you’d first started dating JJ it was John B who had cautioned you. He had a lot of issues, John had warned, he wasn’t just a normal kid. He was defensive and stubborn and he got angry with more ease than most. You knew that though, you’d known him long enough and intimately enough to know that there was nothing you could do or say that would make him concede first in an argument. You couldn’t make the anger disappear or erase the defense mechanism that kicked in at the slightest sign of conflict. 

You couldn’t exist on eggshells either. Sometimes it was purposeful, you were angry and it wasn’t fair that only he got to be angry so you pushed until he gave out. Sometimes fights were like tornados concentrated in whatever space JJ took up. Sometimes things grew into a fight out of nothing, neither of you were at fault, things just exploded faster than you could reign them in and JJ had a set of lungs on him. He could scream until he was red in the face and still have more in him. 

It all ended when you cried though. 

“Just stop with that fucking bullshit!” He had screamed the minute the tears had really started. 

Your voice was brittle, eyes red and watery, “I can’t help it JJ, you’re being a dick!” You shouted.

But that was the end of the fight and you knew it. The minute you started to cry he shut down. He bailed, jumped ship, ran away, clocked out. He was done. He couldn’t do tears; he’d spent enough years with his father hearing that crying was the first sign on weakness and that only pussies got emotional. He’d bailed on you at John B’s house, leaving you standing outside, crying, as he took off on his dirt bike. 

Your phone started ringing, JJ had given up on texting. Even the make-up was routine. He spent enough time away that he came down from the high of being angry and suddenly felt guilty, looking for you to apologize. And usually you were right where he left you but not this time. This time you had bailed too, let him go home to nothing, you couldn’t be there. You couldn’t wait for him to come back before you took care of yourself. 

You let the phone go to voicemail. You’d have a million by the end of the day unless JJ found you. He was stubborn. It was what made him equally a good fighter and a good boyfriend. Though the good boyfriend part had been lacking recently. You knew that everyone was under stress and JJ had it amplified by a hundred because of his home life but you were getting tired of being his outlet when he was angry. You couldn’t remember what this fight was about but it was just one of many. 

Footsteps on the Hawk’s Nest caught your attention and you turned to see JJ’s blond head clear the deck. He had found you, somehow. You figured he enlisted Pope to use the find my phone on your laptop, it was the most likely scenario. You had your locations turned off on everything else. 

“Fuck, there you are, I’ve been texting you for hours.”

“I don’t really wanna talk to you. I figured not answering was kind of a hint.” You replied, looking away from him. You were still crying. Usually you would have stopped by now but today you couldn’t seem to turn it off. 

“I’m sorry about earlier.”

“I don’t believe you.”

“Babe-”

“No, JJ, don’t.” You twisted so you could see him. “I’ve heard whatever bullshit excuses you have a million times but honestly…you just stand there.”

“What?” JJ chanced coming closer to you, dropping down onto the deck next to you. 

“You just stand there watching me cry and I feel like…it makes me feel worthless-”

“You aren’t!”

“But you make me feel that way. You just stand there and watch me and do nothing.” You said, “and I don’t want to start another fight over it I just…I don’t even remember why I’m crying now but I can’t stop and I-”

JJ wrapped an arm around your shoulders, pulling you against him and laying his forehead in the crook of your neck. You wrapped your arms around him, holding on tight. Having him this close was like gravity pulling you back down when you’d floated too far away. 

“I love you JJ, I know we fight and you definitely piss me off sometimes but I don’t…I want us to be able to talk about things. I don’t want to worry that you’ll give up on us someday. I want this, always.” You said. You stroked his hair, running your fingers through the somewhat salty strands. He must’ve gone surfing after the fight. 

JJ lifted his head to look at you, eyes a little glassy. It wasn’t unusual, you’d seen him get this upset before but he tried to avoid it. He usually got angry instead. “I know, I’m sorry. I just hate…feeling like I’m not in control.”

“I know. It’s not enough for us to make-up like this every time. I can’t keep forgiving you for leaving until you leave again. And I don’t want to walk out…I felt like shit hiding up here from you.”

“We’ll work on it.” JJ promised. “It won’t be right away but, we’ll work on it.” 

He had seen plenty of failed relationships in his life. His own house was like a breeding ground for broken relationships and he didn’t want to contribute to that. He didn’t want to be his father and yet, when he came back to John B’s to find you gone he had that sinking feeling. He could remember his mom leaving everything behind and taking off. He felt more like his dad in that moment than ever before and it had scared him enough that he drove all around the island looking for you, calling everyone he could think of. 

“We’ll work on it.” You repeated, more hopeful than you had been sad. JJ was worth the work.


	25. Shotgun - JJ Maybank x reader

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Request: Hi! I love your writingg💞 if youd like can you do a jj fic where the reader is in love with him for a long time and one day kiara (her bff) just blurts it out while they were drunk or smth? You can make it take a sad turn or fluff✨

“Come here,” JJ reached across the space separating the two of you, grabbing your wrist. It far too early in the morning to be awake let alone for JJ to be already smoking but it’s been a rough night and you didn’t want him to feel like you were criticizing him for being upset. He pulled on your wrist and with your freehand you grabbed the edge of the hot tub, trying not to fall in. You weren’t entirely sure how long John B planned to be on that fishing trip with Ward, all any of you knew was that you were supposed to be ready when he got back. 

“JJ,” you warned as he held your hand up, a joint between his lips, and guided your fingers into a fist with his hands. “JJ I already told you I’m not shotgunning.” 

When he’d asked earlier if you wanted a hit you had claimed that you didn’t feel like passing the joint back and forth, it was annoying and he always ended up hogging it anyway. You’d get barely two tokes and he’d have the rest of the joint smoked before you were done exhaling. Besides, you hadn’t really been alone with JJ since Kiara’s brilliant drunken announcement at the beginning of summer. You’d hung out, it’d be insane to assume that you would forgo your chance to take part in this gangbusters gold hunt just because of one embarrassing moment. 

-

It had just been the five of you at the Chateau with beer heisted from various places. John B had found some of his dad’s old liquor in the cabinet beneath the sink and Kiara had helped herself to the Jose Cuervo, claiming that she was seasoned enough to handle it. Drinking it straight from the bottle contradicted that statement but it didn’t really matter, she was fun when she was drunk. She’d tell anyone anything, but she was fun. 

Halfway through the bottle, while dancing with JJ, she finally hit ‘drunk enough to spill everyone’s deepest secrets’. She was also too drunk to whisper. You were sitting with John B and Pope when Kiara wrapped her arm around JJ’s neck and drew him in close like she was going to tell him something she didn’t want anyone to hear. 

Of course, everyone heard her tell him that you liked him, she even pointed at you as she spoke, as if he didn’t already know who you were. 

“She’s like totally in love with you!” Kiara exclaimed, smile brightening her features, “she talks about you all the time. She’s like ‘oh my god did you see JJ today he looked so hot’ and ‘I wish JJ didn’t just think of me as a friend’. And she said she was sick last weekend when she left the party but it was cause you hooked up with that touron.” 

“I’ve never seen her this drunk before,” John B whispered. 

You were too busy trying to shrink into the sofa cushions to worry about John B’s attempt to make excuses for her. Your whole body was warm with embarrassment and, as much as you wanted to, you couldn’t stop staring at JJ. He, of course, was staring right at you, speechless for once. Kiara was giggling as Pope attempted to guide her into a chair and convince her to drink water. 

“I should-” you stood up, grabbing your backpack and heading for the front door. Despite the beer fogging up your brain you managed to run all the way home. You couldn’t believe Kiara had told JJ, and everyone else in the room, that you liked him. You knew she was drunk but that was a sworn secret. 

-

After Cuervo-gate, as Kiara had dubbed it following the massive stream of texts and calls apologizing had finally subsided, you decided your best plan of action was to pretend nothing had ever happened. And also to never, ever, be alone with JJ. If you weren’t alone with him than you could just be friends and distract yourself with other people and he couldn’t tell you how he didn’t like you back. That plan had worked all summer until you were certain that he didn’t even remember the night in question. 

Maybe that was why you let your guard down long enough to come outside and sit with him. 

“This will work, trust me.” He nodded his head toward your hand, comically puffing his cheeks out. You rolled your eyes, scooting closer to him and leaning in. You pressed your mouth to one end of your fist while JJ pressed his mouth to the other end, eyes meeting yours. You felt your heart beat pick up at the close proximity but you tried to stay calm. JJ released his breath, smoke pouring out from the spaces between your fingers. You pulled away a little prematurely, JJ still holding your wrist in one hand.

“Well that was the bust I said it would be.” 

“You didn’t have your hand fisted right.” 

“That’s what she said,” you mumbled and JJ snorted out a laugh. The joint went back between his lips while he maneuvered your fingers around again to try and meld them into a fist. “It’s not gonna work JJ.”

“Oh ye of little faith.”

You were right though, just like last time the smoke seeped out of your fist but even less made it into your mouth. While the problem could’ve easily been that you had never actually shotgunned before you were blaming it on the close proximity between you and JJ. It was bad enough that whenever he was around, your entire body felt like it was overloaded with butterflies, but with him so close you were practically melting. When it didn’t work he slumped against the seat, somewhat defeated that his plan hadn’t worked.

“Just pass me the blunt…we’ll survive.” You said, holding out your hand. 

JJ passed the blunt to you. He watched as you placed it between your lips, inhaling, and he smiled. As you moved the blunt away from your mouth JJ was quick to move, grabbing your jaw and leaning forward, mouth just barely over yours. You tried to close your mouth but his fingers dug in to your jaw, working your mouth open. He inhaled as the smoke you were holding in seeped out of your mouth. His eyes were open, staring at you. 

You pulled away when he had exhaled, leftover smoke seeping out his nose and mouth. “Don’t do that, you scared me.”

“I told you shotgunning would work.” He replied, proud smile on his face. 

“Hardly.” You replied. 

He took the blunt back from you and took a hit, raising an eyebrow at you as he repeated his actions, this time more deliberate because he wasn’t taking you by surprise. You kept your lips parted as JJ leaned in, this time just brushing his lips against yours, an action easy enough to play off as an accident. He exhaled, practically blowing the smoke into your mouth. You were too busy staring at his face close up that you completely missed the shotgun. 

You pulled back, coughing more from embarrassment than anything, JJ’s hand dropping from your face as you turned away from him. “I should see if Kiara and Pope are up yet.”

“Hey, wait-” JJ reached for you again, this time settling on the hem of your shirt as you stood on the bench in the hot tub. “You aren’t mad about this right?”

Kiara and Pope had been livid until they saw the bruises from his dad. You’d been shocked by the extent of the injuries as well but you hadn’t been mad about him blowing the 25k. As easy as it was to brush JJ off as reckless you knew he would never do something to compromise his friends unless he was really hurting.

“No.”

“So, what are you mad about?”

“I’m not. I’m fine.” You replied, crossing your arms and looking back toward the house. He still had a grip on your shirt. 

“You’ve been weird all summer. Is it cause of what Kie said?” JJ asked, “she was just drunk, you know how she gets.”

“She wasn’t just drunk JJ,” you sighed, he was your best friend, you couldn’t lie to him. And this adventure had the air of life or death attached to it that had you thinking regrets weren’t worth having. “She was telling the truth.”

“So why’d you split?” 

“Because then you wouldn’t be able to tell me that you didn’t like me and I could pretend none of it happened.” You replied, “I was avoiding you because I thought you’d want to talk about it.”

“Hey! You guys are up, I want to work on the pulley. I think I figured it out.” Pope called from the porch, breaking the bubble you’d created. 

You turned to look over at him, JJ still holding your shirt and offering a thumbs up with his other hand. “We’ll be right there.” You promised. Pope nodded, heading back inside to get Kiara. 

JJ finally let you go, getting out of the hot tub. He held his blunt between his lips and put his hands out, offering you help. 

“I did climb into this on my own.” You noted. 

“Just let me.” JJ wrapped an arm around your waist and you held on as he lifted you over the side of the hot tub and placed you on the ground. 

“We should head in-” 

“I would’ve told you I liked you too, if you hadn’t cut out.” JJ finally said, pulling you back into the conversation you had been trying to get out of a second time. 

“What?”

“What, you thought I didn’t? Come on, you know me better than that. I would’ve told you that I like you and that I wouldn’t fuck this up.” He replied. He turned as he moved passed you, walking backwards toward the Chateau, “you coulda been macking on me all summer but you had to play it cool.”

“Why didn’t you say something?” You exclaimed, “JJ! Wait!”


	26. Cramps -  JJ Maybank x reader

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Request: hiii! i am having horrible cramps rn and im alone so i have to go buy the stuff myself but i kinda always vomit o black out(?) and i have to wait for someone to help me aaAaaand i was thing if u can write something with JJ where he sees u like that and ask u whats wrong and he helps u and cute fluffly shi(maybe they arent dating but he has a crush on u and vise versa?)

You pressed your face further into your pillow, closing your eyes and trying your hardest to ignore the sound of your phone buzzing on the end table above your head. Despite the weather outside and the heating pad wedged between your stomach and the back of the couch, you had a hoodie on. One you’d stolen from JJ the last time you’d gone night surfing with him. It was worn and cozy and you had the hood pulled up and the sleeves pawed around your hands. Your phone buzzed one more time and you groaned, finally reaching up blindly, knocking your hand against your water bottle, before you grabbed it. 

“Hello?” You laid your phone on top of your ear and closed your eyes, still half dazed from the warmth you were feeling. 

“Yo, where are you? We were supposed to meet like, 20 minutes ago.” JJ’s voice came through the phone, a little too loud. 

You had forgotten to text him when you woke up this morning and realized that hanging out was impossible. You had woken up to your period and cramps enough that getting from your bed to the couch was difficult enough. Your mom was already at work which meant you were home alone, a curse when you were feeling this sick. 

“I can’t,” you replied. “I have my period.” There was probably a time in middle school when you would have been too embarrassed to even utter the word period in front of JJ but you’d been friends long enough that you didn’t care about mentioning it. You’d been friends long enough too that JJ knew how truly awful your period could get. 

“Alright but you owe me a surf, John B’s fucking terrible.” He replied and you laughed as you heard John B in the background protesting JJ’s claims.

“Give me a few days, I’ll be out there schooling both of you.”

“Schooling? Does anyone even say that anymore?” He questioned. 

“Goodbye JJ, I’m hanging up.”

The worst part of being home alone was the fact that you had nothing you usually kept close. With your mom gone you could only get it if you left the house yourself and that was nearly impossible. The heat from the star shaped heating pad you’d bought based solely on cuteness was starting to cool down and you were beginning to regret not just buying the cheap one that plugged in to the wall. If you could just find a position comfortable enough to fall asleep you thought you might actually survive this absolute torture. 

You tucked your face into the hood of the sweatshirt, trying to see if any inch of it still smelled like JJ when the kitchen door opened with a bang. 

“Fuck,” you groaned, you were going to die in this god awful state. 

“Alright,” And just like that you were craning your neck to see JJ standing on the other end of the side table, looking down the couch at you, “I’ve got saltines, some chocolate cause Kie said chocolate was a must, pills, these giant ass bottles of ginger ale!” JJ held up a liter bottle, “Seagrams cause you’re a pain in the ass. And that CBD shit you like,” he waved the jar of muscle balm before tossing it at you. 

“You just hit me with that.” You grabbed the jar and tossed it back, missing him by a foot and spooking your cat. 

“Good job.”

“I thought you were going surfing?” You asked, pulling the heating pad from under JJ’s hoodie. “Also…heat this up for me?” 

He took the heating pad, disappearing into the kitchen while you tried to sit up on the couch. You reached over and took the jar of muscle balm, undoing the cap and sniffing it. 

“You want me to put in on for you?” JJ asked, coming back into the living room with the heating pad wrapped in a dish towel. 

The offer was too good to pass up and before you knew it you were laying on your back on the couch, hoodie pushed up enough that your stomach and lower abdomen were exposed. JJ sat on the edge of the couch, jar of muscle balm leaning against his thigh. He wiggled his fingers at you, smiling, “ready for my magic fingers?”

“Name of your sex tape.” You laughed. 

“God, get your head out of the gutter.” He joked, winking at you. You closed your eyes, muscles tensing for a fraction of a second when JJ first touched your stomach. He pressed his hand down gently, “relax.” He commanded and you did, relaxing as he kneaded the soft flesh of your stomach and lower abdomen, spreading the muscle balm. 

As you laid there you couldn’t help thinking about what Kiara had said to you before. She was convinced that JJ liked you. It seemed a bit farfetched to you, even now as you felt him adjust the heating pad on your stomach and pulled his hoodie down. JJ couldn’t like you, it was just that you were best friends, except he’d never done this kind of thing for Kiara. 

“When we go surfing-” you started to say, looking down the couch to where JJ had taken up residence, your feet in his lap. “After I’m not shark bait anymore-”

“Yeah?”

You took a deep breath. Ideally you would be dressed in a nice outfit, not close to death, but this was where you were and you didn’t want to keep wondering. Not when he remembered which episodes of Brooklyn 99 made you the happiest or what ginger ale brand you liked the best or any of the things he always seemed to know immediately. You wanted to know if Kiara was right. 

“You think it could just be us?”

“I know John B sucks at surfing but-”

“He does not!” You laughed, “Do you think it could be just us like, a date?”

“A date?”

“Yeah…I know this isn’t my best look but I really like you and, I don’t know, thought maybe you liked me too?”

JJ smiled, “yeah, yeah I do.” He looked over at you, “what are the chances you let me kiss you?”

“Oh no…I haven’t brushed my teeth.” You replied, closing your eyes again. You were jostled when JJ got up from the couch, knocking your feet off. “JJ, what’re you doing?” You didn’t bother trying to sit up this time as he disappeared upstairs. 

A moment later he appeared again, holding your toothbrush and a cup in his hands. “Huh? How about now?”

“God you’re so desperate.” You laughed, holding out your hands.


	27. Bake-Off - JJ Maybank x reader

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Request: can you write something with jj where the reader bakes a lot :) i understand if not, but i bake a lot (especially pies, i’m rambling sorry!) and thought this would be cute

The tray of banana nut muffins sat on John B’s table, half eaten. It was long before Big John died that there was ever even a homemade birthday cake in the house, neither men having much luck in the kitchen. But the muffins didn’t belong to John B anyway, they were JJ’s, which was even more peculiar, according to Kiara. If the Routledge men were shit at baking than the Maybank’s had never even turned on an oven. 

“They’re a gift.” JJ shrugged, laying across the laz-e-boy on the porch and munching on one. 

“A gift?” That was more shocking than their existence. JJ didn’t really get gifts and definitely not baked goods. 

“Did you mow someone’s lawn?” Pope asked, reaching for the muffin only to have JJ Flop away from him at the last second. 

“You could say that.” He grinned, attempting and failing a wink. 

“Ew, JJ.” Kiara groaned and walked back into the living room, emerging a moment later with one, “oh my god they’re edibles.”

“What?” Pope asked. 

“There’s weed in them.”

“Yes there is.” JJ grinned, “I ate two last night and was cooked. It’s some good shit.”

“Is it your shit?” Kiara asked, taking a bite. 

“Obviously, I said it was good didn’t I? I got the best shit on the island Kie.” He replied. 

“I know you didn’t make them so who made them for you?” 

-

JJ was a purest, as he dramatically referred to it. He rolled his own joints, dried his own weed for vaping, and he didn’t do edibles. At least he didn’t until one of the guys in the kitchen at the hotel turned 21. A box of cookies sat on the counter in the kitchen, marked Andrew. Double chocolate-chocolate chip, according to Andrew, and packed with a enough weed to “have you cooked after half of it”. 

“They’re delicious man, you gotta try one.” Andrew had insisted. 

“I don’t do edibles.” 

“You’ll regret it.”

And naturally, being told that there was the possibility for regret was a guaranteed way to ensure JJ did something. His bizarre fear of missing out dictated that he have no regrets and so he took one and ate the whole thing right there in the kitchen. And it was good…it was so good it didn’t even taste like weed and he was two seconds from telling Andrew he’d been dupped when he felt the familiar ease settle over him. 

“Where’d you get these?” He asked, slipping three into a plastic bag and dropping them in his backpack. 

“That girl that works in the kids area.” Andrew shrugged. 

You were a glorified babysitter, in charge of occupying people’s toddlers while they went out to play golf or shop or go to the spa. Not the greatest job in the world but the kids were usually easily contained and the parents always tipped well. 

JJ knew you to see you, always wandering around with some kid or another attached to your hip, talking about Frozen or Descendants…he’d heard you duet a song from some Disney Channel movie with one of the little girls just last week. It made you seem a bit green honestly. He couldn’t imagine you doing anything less than innocent, especially making your own edibles. 

He waited until after his shift to look for you, still wearing his white button up and vest but with his cargo shorts back on. You were outside supervising and participating in a game of soccer with a handful of eight year olds. 

“Hey,” he called, waving to you as he walked up. You tossed the soccer ball back into the makeshift field and turned toward JJ, “Andrew said you made him those cookies, for his birthday.” 

“Oh yeah,” you nodded, “I know he doesn’t like to smoke so…” 

“Could you make me some?” 

“Sure, what flavor?” You turned away for a moment to make sure all five of your children were still actively playing soccer and JJ took the opportunity to check you out. Your t-shirt advertised the hotel and hung loose on you. Shorts and a pair of running shoes completed the look and he was appreciative for the view of your legs. 

“Chocolate peanut butter.” JJ decided.

-

Chocolate peanut butter cookies, snickerdoodles, brownies, blondies, coffee cake, you and JJ had slowly formed a friendship built on experimental edible recipes. He supplied the weed and you made him whatever baked goods he could think up. He had even downloaded the Tasty app and Pinterest for the sake of finding new desserts for you to tackle. 

“So this girl just makes you whatever you want?” Kiara asked the next time a container of cookies appeared at John B’s house. Sugar cookies, with piped on icing that made them look like beach balls. 

“It’s business Kie. I supply the weed from my cousin, she makes the edibles. We sell them too, it’s a very lucrative business.” JJ replied, eyes closed, laying in the hammock outside John B’s while he smoked. 

Kiara was munching on a sugar cookie. She wasn’t really complaining about the edibles, her mom had been on her lately about the possibility of her smoking and the edibles were easier to hide. Especially because yours didn’t smell half as bad as some she’d had in the past. Mostly she was just curious about this girl that JJ was spending time with. He acted like it was casual but Kiara had known him for a long time and she knew JJ lacked the ability to hang out with a girl casually. Even they toed the line sometimes. 

“So when can we meet your esteemed business partner?” Kiara asked. 

“What?” JJ rolled his head to the side to look over at her, pushing his sunglasses down his nose. “Why do you wanna meet her?”

“Why don’t you want us to meet her?” She countered. 

“I don’t care. You can meet her.” JJ replied, trying to act nonchalant about the whole thing. He couldn’t fool Kiara and he knew that but that didn’t stop him from trying. He didn’t want you to meet his friends, mainly because he liked having you all to himself. It meant your attention wasn’t divided four ways. 

-

“These are burnt on the bottom.” You commented, sitting on the kitchen island beside a cooling rack of peanut butter cookies. The peanut butter was JJ’s favorite though you usually didn’t make them because of allergies. 

“They’re fine.” JJ replied, munching on a cookie while he scrolled through tiktok. You rolled your eyes at him and held one up, turning it over to inspect the nearly black bottom of the cookie. JJ had sworn that he would keep an eye on them while you left to talk to your mom on the phone but he’d let the buzzer go two minutes before he finally took it out.

“At least you’re the only one eating them.” You remarked, taking a bite of the one in your hands. You scrunched up your nose at the taste of burnt cookie, “the high better be worth it.” 

JJ put his phone down, pushing off the counter so that he could come over and stand in front of you. You raised an eyebrow as JJ moved your knees apart so that he could stand between your legs. He opened his mouth, letting out an ‘ahh’ and you rolled your eyes at him as you placed the burnt peanut butter cookie in his mouth. 

“It’s burnt.” You reiterated, watching him chew the cookie. You had discovered that JJ could pace himself far better with a blunt than he could a batch of cookies. He’d eat three in a row and get cooked, an unusual occurrence for him. You ran a hand through his hair, brushing it out of his eyes. “Your hair is so greasy it literally stands up on its own.” You teased.

“I washed it!” 

“The last time you went in the ocean does not count as a bath.” You replied. You continued to play with his hair as he leaned closer to you, eyes fluttering shut for a moment. 

“You have off tomorrow?” JJ asked, still munching on his cookie.

“Yeah but my mom’s home all day.” You replied. 

The experimental creating of edibles had led to a friendship and then a something in between. You weren’t quite ready to call JJ your boyfriend but you certainly weren’t entertaining the idea of anyone else. He spent all his time at your house when he wasn’t with his friends or working. Even when your mom was home and there was no baking, he hung around. At work he sought you out throughout the day, more than once crashing whatever activity you were doing with your kids. 

“I was thinking you could come out on the boat with us.” JJ said. He was determined, now that he’d told Kiara he would, to introduce you to everyone. It certainly didn’t mean that he was planning on giving up his alone time with you but he’d concede to Kiara this time. “My friends wanna meet you.”

“Okay, I’d like that.” You replied, smiling at the implication that he was introducing you to his friends, “but I’m making them better cookies cause these are burnt.”

“There’s nothing wrong with them.”

“No but there’s something wrong with me for trusting you to watch the oven.” You said. 

His eyes opened and he pouted at you. “I’m very responsible.”

“I know babe.”


	28. Jumper - JJ Maybank x reader

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Request: Can I request #17 with JJ please? Love your writing!

“What were you thinking? Were you trying to get yourself killed?” You reprimanded, standing in the hospital room with JJ. He and John B had broken into a vacant kook house to swim in the pool and, on a dare, your boyfriend had jumped off the roof into the pool. Only he hadn’t cleared it and had fractured his shoulder and arm. 

John B had called you from the back of the ambulance, apologizing profusely while JJ shouted in the background about being able to fly. His morphine high had bit it before you got to the hospital and now he was just sitting there looking apologetic but not remorseful. 

“It would’ve been an awesome jump if I cleared it.” He argued, pouting at you. 

“But you didn’t clear it J. You were inches from hitting your head. What if that happened? If you split your head.” You practically shouted, thankful the door was closed so no one in the hallway could hear your conversation.

“Might be hollow in there. There’s a chance he would’ve just bounced right off.” John B piped up from his seat. 

“You,” you turned your glare on John B, “don’t speak to me. I swear to god, I will kill you.”

“Hey, he’s the one who jumped!” John B protested, waving his hand toward JJ. Your boyfriend was sitting on the gurney, sling hold his arm to his chest with a strap secured around his chest so he couldn’t move his shoulder. 

“You guys are literal children! Do you need a babysitter?” 

“You’d make a hot babysitter.” JJ replied, “I’d tap that.” 

John B shook his head at his best friend, trying to warn him against egging you on. 

“Okay, you know what, I’m leaving. Crack your skull open, what the fuck do I care.” 

“No, wait, babe!” JJ reached with his good arm, opening and closing his hand as if he could grab onto you.

“What JJ?”

“Who’s gonna sponge bath me if you go?” He whined, pouting for you. 

“John B, can you go ask the nurse to come in so we can leave while I stay here and murder my boyfriend?” You asked. John B nodded, getting up and heading into the hallway, letting the door shut behind him. The minute John B was out of the room you turned back to JJ. “What were you thinking?”

“Babe,” he whined, “we already did this.”

“No,” you shook your head, “JJ…you fractured your shoulder blade and your arm…do you not understand how close you were to hitting your head.”

“I was fine.” JJ replied. 

“You weren’t.” 

“Babe-”

“Do not ‘babe’ me JJ.” You said, grabbing his face to keep his eyes on you, “do not ever scare me like that again or I swear to god I will break up with your ass.”

“No sponge baths?” He asked. 

You rolled your eyes but couldn’t help smiling, “no sponge baths you idiot.” 

“Sorry…I was having a shitty day and when John B called I just wanted to blow off some steam.” He admitted, leaning forward so his forehead touched yours.

“Next time, call me.” You pushed your forehead against his so that you could kiss him. JJ’s good arm wrapped around your back to pull you closer to the gurney he was sitting on. He tried to put his other arm around you, the brace and sling restricting his movement and making him groan in annoyance.

“I hate this thing already.” He grumbled, laying his head against your shoulder.

You combed a hand through his hair and his upper back on his uninjured side, “poor baby.”


	29. Igloo - JJ Maybank x reader

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Request: Okay, so idk if you’ve watched Atypical but I read the Autism ReaderXJJ and I was wondering if you could do a story based loosely off of the “I just got a hand job in an igloo” moment (but like I guess more of an ‘i just got ate out in an igloo’ since it’s a fem!reader) ? (ALSO I don’t think there’s the exact moment secluded in a video but you can youtube ‘the best: sam gardner (atypical)’ and it’s at 1:03)

“Come here.” JJ weaves through the party, hand firmly grasping yours. It’s been almost two months since you’ve been to a party and just a few weeks since the two of you started dating. The parties you could have gone without permanently but you knew JJ liked to party and you couldn’t help feeling a little left out on a Friday night when he went out with the other pogues and you were left home alone. 

“Where are we going?” You asked, the sound of the bass beginning to set you off. It was so loud you could feel the vibrations in your stomach and it was making you a little woozy. 

You had been trying to pull through it but JJ was a surprisingly observational person and he noticed the slight tic you had of rolling your shoulder or cracking your knuckles to give your brain something to distract you. When you’d cracked them for the third time without the usual popping sound setting off JJ knew it was getting bad. So he’d told Pope that you guys would be right back and he grabbed your wrist, a touch that was sudden but managed to pull you back into the moment. 

“Here,” he had walked all the way outside in search of somewhere quiet to hide away from the endless stream of partying, finally pulling you into a life sized, blow-up igloo that had been set up on the lawn for some Christmas in July shindig. 

“What are we doing?” You asked, pulling back against his grip when he tried to get you inside. 

“Go in.” JJ instructed. 

“Like hell i’m going in there. I don’t need to add claustrophobia to the list of things wrong with me when that blow-up death trap collapses.” 

JJ smiled, leaning over to place a kiss on your cheek. “You’re adorable, now get your ass in the igloo.”

You and JJ had found a sort of compromise between your aversion to touch and his eagerness for it. The compromise was that you were slowly learning to like the feeling is his hands on you. Before you could go whole weeks without even a hug from your mom and now it felt like you couldn’t last minutes without JJ touching some part of you. Holding your hand, kissing you, keeping an arm around you, his knee knocking yours under a table. The touches became grounding whenever you felt yourself ready to float away. 

JJ crawled through first and you followed, coming into the igloo blow-up to find him laying on his back with his arms stretched out, “Ta-da.”

“I don’t really know if this is a ‘ta-da’ moment. We’re in a giant blow up igloo, in the dark.” You mentioned, hunching slightly because you couldn’t stand to full height. 

“Hold on,” JJ reached into his pocket, pulling out his phone and switching on the flashlight before lying it on the ground. “There you go.”

“Brilliant, that’s really helpful, JJ thank you.”

“I’m innovative.”

You hummed, still standing hunched near the entrance. 

“Come here,” JJ beckoned you over, waving his hand for you to come closer to him. You did, walking to his feet and stopping, “Come here,” he repeated, sitting up and opening his legs for you to stand between them. You came closer, and JJ planted a kiss right about your knee. 

“What do you want?” You asked as his hands settled on the backs of your ankles. “I’m sure this is a really great angle of me.”

JJ’s hands ran up your legs, pushing your dress up to your waist so he could see your underwear, “it is now.”

“Ew, JJ.” You laughed, swatting his hands away. 

“What? I’m distracting you…isn’t that what I’m supposed to do when you have a panic attack.” 

“I’m not having a panic attack.” You replied. This was miles away from the breakdown you’d had the night you met him. Just a mild bout of anxiety that you were slowly getting a hold of. 

“But you almost might’ve.”

“But I didn’t.” 

“Cause I’m distracting you.” JJ replies, clearly proud of himself. His hands returned to the back of your thighs. 

“By talking about sex?”

“I could distract you by having sex with you. That’d be new.” 

“JJ.” You groaned. You hadn’t had sex yet. Not because you didn’t want to or were waiting for anything special just because you were worried it would be too overwhelming. 

“I’ve been told I’ve got a very talented tongue.”

“I’m sorry, are you, bragging to me about girls you’ve had sex with in the past?” 

“No?” JJ said, looking up at you and offering his most innocent of smiles. 

“Oh my god.” 

“Okay, okay sorry…but seriously, let me distract you?” He asked, hands running up the back of your thighs and beneath your dress. 

“We’re practically in public JJ.”

“No one will know.” His fingers hooked into your underwear, resting there against your hips as he waited for your answer. “Can I?” 

You bit your bottom lip, eyes locking with his in the artificial light from the phone. “Okay.” 

“You sure?” JJ asked, kissing both knees this time. 

“Yea. Yes, positive.” You replied, you could feel the steady rhythm of your heart beating as he pulled your underwear down your legs and you stepped out of them.

“Take your shoes off.” 

“Why?”

“Cause, I don’t want you to fall.” JJ replied, tapping your ankles. You slipped off your sandals and watched him toss them aside. 

“Why would I-Oh my god!” You yelped in surprise as JJ lifted one of your legs off the ground and slipped it over his shoulder. You grab his shoulders for balance and he places a firm grip on your left thigh, holding you to him. 

“I really like this dress, it’s like a little tent,” JJ remarks, demonstrating by peeking up at you and then throwing the dress over his head, the hem just hitting his shoulders. 

You roll your eyes at his antics but the playfulness doesn’t last much longer as he places a kiss to your abdomen. He travels the short expanse of skin with his mouth, kissing a path toward the apex of your thighs. When you jerk a little against him, pressing yourself closer to his face, he stops, peering out from under your dress. 

“You okay?”

You nodded, embarrassed suddenly. “Sorry.” 

“It’s alright,” JJ promised, rubbing circles into your skin with the hand that was holding your hip, “you wanna stop?”

“No. It was just, sensitive.” 

JJ smiled tilting his head to the side and kissing your arm before disappearing back under your dress. He placed his mouth on your skin, just above your thigh. The skin there was especially soft and you felt his tongue poke out between his lips, giving you the smallest of kitten licks before he was sucking a bruise there. You gripped his shoulders a light tighter. He didn’t stay long, finishing his trail of kisses at your lower lips. His tongue pushed into your folds, licking a circle around your clit. He smiled against you when he felt your right hand move to the back of his head. You’d never had anyone touch you before, especially not put their mouth on you. 

JJ continued, closing his mouth around your clit, sucking the way he had on your thigh earlier, his tongue flicking out to brush over the bundle of nerves. The sensation was so intense that you didn’t notice the hand that had been on your hip move down between your legs. Your heel dug into his back as he slipped two fingers inside you, the ring on his index finger cold against your warmth, coating them with precum. Even though your dress covered his head JJ could hear the soft gasps and moans as he moved against you. You gripped his hair when his tongue replaced his fingers, slipping inside you as his nose brushed your clit. Your toes curled into the cold grass beneath your foot, thankful suddenly that JJ had the good sense to take your shoes off. 

He repositioned his hand, pressing his thumb against your clit and rubbing in slow circles as his tongue pushed in and out of you. JJ had been right about this being distracting, the party felt light years away, the only thing you could focus on was the way his tongue felt inside of you. A coil of tension wound itself in your stomach and you pulled JJ closer. His tongue curled inside you, hitting the perfect spot as his fingers sped up but it was the hand on your thigh, keeping your leg over his shoulder that did you in. When you pushed against him he pulled you, nails digging into your skin and you felt the coil burst as you came on his tongue. 

He doesn’t move, holding you against him just as tight as before. He grips your hip with one hand and keeps the other on your thigh as licks you clean, loving the short spasms that he causes when his tongue brushes your clit a few times. Finally he pulled his head away, blond hair appearing from beneath the hem of your dress. He looks up at you, mouth and chin glistening in the iphone light, and smiles. 

“You okay?” JJ asks, eyes tender as he watches you even out your breathing. Looking down at him, tears pricking the corners of your eyes and skin flushed, JJ is certain he’s never seen a more beautiful sight. 

“That was…”

He smiles, proud of himself at your loss for words. Carefully he relaxes his shoulder, letting your leg down. 

“Shit!” The sudden feeling of both your feet on the floor unbalances you and you fall back, ungraceful, on your ass. “Oh my god.” You whine, embarrassment overwhelming you as you cover your face with your hands. You can hear JJ laugh as he crawls over top of you. His wet lips leave a sticky kiss against your forehead and you gag. “Ew.”

JJ pulled your hands away, “hi.”

“Hi.” You smiled, “I just got eaten out in an igloo.”

“It was delicious too.” JJ replied pressing more kisses to your jaw and neck.

“You’re so weird.” 

“Telling you I enjoyed snacking on you-”

“JJ!”

“Sorry, sorry, you wanna go?” he asked, moving away from you to grab your underwear and your shoes, both of which he helped you put on.

“We can go back to my house, my mom is working the night shift.” You offered as you sat up. 

“Your mom isn’t home?” 

“No.”

“Has she not been home this whole time?” JJ asked, grabbing his phone and backpack. He kept the light on as the two of you crawled out of the igloo. 

“Yeah.” You jerked when you felt his hand against your ass. “What the hell?”

“Sorry, you got grass on your ass.”

“JJ!” You smacked his arm and he laughed. 

“I can’t believe we coulda been home alone this whole time.” He mentioned, pulling you into his side. 

“You wanted to come to the party!”


	30. Sweatshirt - JJ Maybank x reader

“Hey,” JJ came up behind you, climbing over the log you were sitting on and dropping down beside you, “here, take my jacket, it’s cold outside.” 

A breeze had picked up on the beach after the sunset and your cropped tank top was not exactly doing the job of keeping you warm. JJ slipped off his hoodie and passed it to you. Pulling it over your head, the fleece inside almost immediately warmed your skin. You looked down at the symbol on the front when you noticed the purple threaded suture on the seam of the wrist.

“This is my jacket.” You pointed out. 

“It looks good on you.” JJ mentioned.

“Yeah, it should. Like I said, it’s mine.” 

“Okay, well,” He replied, rolling his eyes, “If we’re being technical, I bought it.” 

“If we’re being technical, you bought it for me because you threw up on mine, while I was wearing it, after John B dared you to drink that entire mini keg…which I also bought.” You pointed out, pulling the sleeves down over your hands and crossing your arms. 

“Well it’s your fault I threw up on that keg.”

“How is that my fault? I told you it was a year old and had been sitting in my dad’s garage. You’re the one who decided to drink it anyway.” You replied. 

“Yeah, cause you chickened out and wouldn’t get any beer for us.”

“My dad would’ve known!” 

“I was forced to drink that keg.” 

“You were not! I told you not to drink the keg!” You laughed. 

“That’s like telling a fish not to swim.” He replied. You shook your head at his ridiculous logic. A breeze passed through the boneyard and you curled your toes into the sand, turning your head away from the wind. 

“Still cold?” JJ asked, putting his arm around you and pulling you closer. You nodded, turning in toward him as much as you could, tucking your head against his shoulder. “You wanna go?”

“No, I just wanna be warm.” You replied. JJ kissed the side of your head before pulling away. “This is even less what I want!” You complained, reaching out for him but he moved too far away from you.

“I’ll be right back, hang tight.” JJ left you sitting on the log trying to warm up, running your hands up and down your bare legs as you waited for him to come back. 

It didn’t take long, JJ appeared beside you again with another sweatshirt and a blanket. He put the blanket around your shoulders and then sat in front of you on the sand, grabbing your legs. 

“What are you doing?” You laughed as he scrunched up the sweatshirt, beginning to put your right foot through the bottom and pulling the sleeve over it. 

“Keeping your legs warm.” JJ replied, “and this sweatshirt, you will notice, is mine.”

“I look ridiculous!” you didn’t protest though as he pulled the upside-down sweatshirt up your legs. 

“Yeah but you’re warm.”

“Yeah but I’m wearing a sweatshirt as pants…not exactly a lifehack I hoped to be sporting on a beach full of people.” You replied. 

“Just wear the sweatshirt.”

“I am! But I’m only doing it because you’re cute,” you said, “and because we’ve already had sex…I don’t have to impress you anymore.” 

“I’m impressed you managed to make that sweatshirt look like a diaper.” JJ teased, smiling even as you whacked the back of his head with your hand.

“Don’t be mean to me, I’m cold!” You pouted. 

JJ fixed the blanket so it was around both of you, letting you wrap your arms around his waist and lean into him as he pulled out his dab pen. He offered you a toke, knowing the warmth of it would help keep the cold away, at least until you finally gave in and let him take you home. Which he was looking forward to, if only to see you have to stand up with that sweatshirt on your legs.


	31. Aquarium

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Request: Hello!I’ve never done one of this but I thought I’d give it a try since I like the way you write:) Anyway could you do a JJ one where the reader works at an aquarium and she sneaks him in and they spend the whole day just running around while she tells him about the animals and they feed some manatees or something idk I thought that be like super cute! Thanks;)

JJ walked behind you on the V-shaped suspension bridge above the shark exhibit in the aquarium. It was a new attraction, the chance for people to walk above the sharks instead of just beneath them in the usual tunnel. He held onto the ropes on either side as he half listened to you telling him about the sharks below. 

The first time JJ had been to the aquarium he’d been he’d been tagging along with Kiara while she delivered food for the Wreck. While she dropped off sandwiches to the gift shop JJ had wandered down the hall where you were setting up a display cart for a summer camp activity. He was fairly certain he’d never seen you around the island before though he doubted tourists got jobs on vacation. Maybe you were a kook but you had a job so, again…didn’t add up. Either way, he took his chances, walking up to the cart. He was about to pull out a line when the blowfish skeleton on the cart caught his attention and he lifted it up, holding it close to his face to inspect it.

“Can I help you?” You’d asked, turning to catch him standing there. The hallway you were in was supposed to be closed to the public so you were surprised to find someone there. 

“Yeah, I’m JJ.” He looked passed the blowfish at you and smiled. 

“Can I help you with anything JJ?” You repeated. You knew you looked ridiculous, knee length khaki shorts and a tucked in blue aquarium polo didn’t do much for your figure and you’d given up on cute boys finding you attractive during work hours. 

“Yeah, I was wondering about this?” He held out the blowfish for you to take back.

“The blowfish?” You asked.

“What’s it about?”

When Kiara finally found him down the hall you were halfway through explaining your cart to him. After that JJ became a regular fixture at the aquarium, wandering around until he found you and then tailing you all afternoon to ask you various questions about different exhibits, fish, and anything he could think of. 

Today he’d shown up because you had mentioned that they were allowing the employees a walk-through of the new shark bridge before it opened to the public. You’d told him that you could probably sneak him in and you had. Heights weren’t exactly your favorite and the thought of being suspended above sharks, regardless of the safety precautions put in place, freaked you out a little bit but JJ had sounded interested and you still couldn’t believe that he hung around as often as he did. 

“NCS has a marine biology program that I’m thinking about for college, I wasn’t really interested in it before but working around the aquarium all summer has really kind of gotten me hooked.” You mentioned. 

“You’re really smart so…” he shrugged. You turned back to look at him, smiling. 

While JJ listened to every marine life fact that you could produce about a specific exhibit or animal, he was far more interested in just being around you. He didn’t know what it was or why he found himself spending so much time with you, but he was as hooked on you as you were on the idea of marine biology. JJ had never worked this hard for a girl before. If they liked him, they liked him and he entertained the idea of them for a night or a week, tops, and if they didn’t like him then he moved on.

But this was different. As cliché as it sounded to say so. He wanted to be around you, and not just because you were held his attention, not just because he knew he’d stumbled into something special that afternoon. But because you never made him feel stupid. You acted like he was just as smart as you were and you were so smart. You treated him like he was as special as he knew you were.

“I really need to be off this bridge.” You replied, looking back at JJ. He removed his hands from the sides of the suspension bridge, laying them on your hips and stepping closer to you. “Now we’ll both plunge to our death together.” 

“I would jump in after you anyway,” he said, arms wrapping around your waist. 

“That was spectacularly corny.” You laughed, leaning back against him and tilting your head back to kiss his cheek. 

JJ smiled, closing his eyes as his cheeks flushed just slightly. Without the need to show off to grab your attention JJ tended not to act stupid quite so often. If he was up here with John B and them, he would’ve definitely been shaking the ropes or poking you incessantly. Instead he was mostly quiet, letting you go on and on about the different sharks in the exhibit. 

“I’m trying!”

“Trying to do what?” You asked, removing his arms from around you to keep walking. You held one of his hands in yours, the other on the ropes as you continued on.

“Be romantic or something.” 

You rolled your eyes at him. “Just be you, yeah? I don’t care about the romantic stuff.” 

“If you insist.” JJ replied, poking your side and making you stumble slightly. 

“JJ! I didn’t mean be an asshole.” You turned just enough to look at him. “Behave yourself or I’m not taking you to see the penguins.”

“Oh come on! The penguins love me!”


	32. Electric - JJ Maybank x reader

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Request: I don’t know if you’ve ever seen those old tweets that were like “this is what (insert song) would sound like if you were making out in the bathroom of a house party.” Can you write a JJ imagine based on that and ‘Alina Baraz - Electric ‘😭 I love your writing so much. 
> 
> A/N: Tried a different writing technique. More like stream of consciousness. Honestly, listen to Alina Baraz’s Electric while you read this.

You could hear the bass from the song playing through the bathroom door. John B had a small house and when the stereo was cranked up the sound seemed to reverberate off every inch of the Chateau, vibrations followed patterns that flowed through your body, hooking in your stomach. They dragged you down and then suddenly released you, a rhythm that had you feeling like you were floating. The words were muffled, a beat seeping in beneath the door and even if you could hear them they wouldn’t make any sense to you. Not like this. 

A friend of a friend was friends with John B or however it went and by that chain reaction you had been invited to the party at the Chateau on Saturday night. Pogues only. Except, of course, Kiara and Sarah Cameron. Otherwise, pogues only. The music, and some of the occupants of the party, were spilling out of the house, a bonfire on the front lawn drawing their attention. You slipped inside and mingled and danced and somehow in the middle of a perfectly good time found yourself in the bathroom with the door closed having an even better one. 

The beat was like a hazy siren song, filling up your head with white noise that threatened to lull you into a trance, even more so than the blond whose fingers on your skin felt like fire. A knock on the solid wood of the bathroom door almost interrupted you. Your focus started to return, glossy eyes trying to find the source of the offending noise but his mouth on caught yours before you could connect the sound to the door. He shushed you, fingers holding your jaw in place as his lips worked against yours, tongue coaxing your mouth open until he was drawing out a moan. 

The knocking ceased and your attention became consumed by the blond once more. His hands found your bare thighs, warm touch in contrast to the cold of the tiled countertop that you sat on. He dragged you closer to him, shorts bunching up further as your legs fell off the counter and you collided with him, even through your clothes you could feel how hard he was. Your legs hooked around his waist, trying to press yourself as close as you could while he kissed your neck, mouth working bruises into your skin. His hands trailed down your sides and somewhere in the back of your mind you could hear yourself whimper as his mouth left your skin long enough for him to pull your shirt off and toss it to the side. The bikini top you were wearing was next and he stopped for no more than a minute, deafening silence enveloping you as he looked at you, eyes glazed from the high of you as he stared. You were breathing hard, chest heaving. When he connected with you again your breasts pressed against his, the friction of your already hard nipples brushing against his shirt making you gasp. He kissed you again and you heard yourself mutter an ‘unfair’ into his lips before you were pulling his shirt off too. 

His hands were back on your skin and maybe it was just you but it felt like everything was moving in time to the music. You wrapped your arms around his shoulders, one hand going to the back of his head, keeping his mouth on yours as his fingers danced across your body, lighting fires against your skin in their wake. His thumbs brushed against your nipples and you moaned into a kiss. You grind against him, pressing your hand into the tiled countertop as you leaned your body back enough to give you a better angle to feel his cock against you through the layers still on both of you. His mouth leaves yours, kissing down your neck as his right hand snaked around your back, holding you against him as he leaned into you. With one hand still in his hair you slip the other in between your bodies, fingers finding the button on his shorts. You loosen your grip on his waist, spreading your legs further apart as you try to push your hand passed his shorts and underwear. As you do his mouth finally makes it your breast, lips closing around your nipple as his left hand gently squeezes your other breast. His tongue flicks out and you tighten your grip on his hair. 

Suddenly the banging on the door is back. This time the rhythm of the music seemed to swallow it, your brain unable to comprehend more than the boy in front of you. Whoever was on the other side of the door called over the sound of the music, demanding that they be let in. The blond pulled away from you, head turning to the door as you whimpered from the loss of his mouth against your body. He opened his mouth, ready to tell them to fuck off just as you wrapped your hand around his dick, the angle of his body away from you giving you more accessibility than before. He bucked his hips involuntarily against you as you sat up, moving closer to him. His eyes met yours and you bit your lip. He leaned his upper body against you, forehead pressed to your shoulder and hands digging into your hips as he watched you stroke him. Your free hand went back to his head, fingers playing with the hair at the nape of his neck. Suddenly in control, you reveal in the feeling of him shaking against you, soft whimpers leaving his lips as you squeeze him. 

You pull on his hair enough that he looks up at you, letting you kiss him. He quivers again, whole body jerking against you. He mouths the word bed against your lips and suddenly he’s pulling away from you completely. Still drunk on the feeling of him you can only sit there half dressed as he grabs your shirt and his. He pulls his shirt over your head and kisses you one more time before he’s pulling you off the counter and out of the bathroom after him.


	33. Hunter - JJ Maybank x reader

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Request: Hey could you possibly do a jj x reader where they have never got on well but then you see him being sweet with your younger brother/sister and it makes you feel a different way about him, some kinda fluff. Your writing is honestly so good, I’m always checking back to see if you’ve put anything new up :)

“Alright,” JJ announced, crouched behind the back of your brother’s motorized wheelchair, “on the count of three, we’re gonna do it Harley Quinn style okay?”

“Okay,” he cast his eyes to the side as if he would be able to see, smiling when JJ appeared in his line of vision and gave him a thumbs up. 

JJ lived on the same stretch of road that you did and when your brother had spotted him walking down the street he’d immediately asked if JJ wanted to hang out. Though you weren’t a fan of the reckless, loud mouth, pogue your eight year old brother thought JJ was the coolest person in the world. He was funny, good at surfing, and he always stopped to say hi when he saw your brother, even if he was with friends. 

Your mom was gardening when JJ came up the driveway and she’d headed to the bed in the back, asking if he could keep an eye on your brother for a few minutes. 

“I want to put these last few plants in before it rains tomorrow and Hunter doesn’t want to go inside, he’s still amped up from being at his friend’s house.” Your mom had explained as she inched toward the backyard. You were still at work so for the time being Hunter was relying on your mom for entertainment. 

“No problem, Hunter can show me his new hockey moves.” JJ replied, grinning at your little brother. Hunter played wheelchair hockey and JJ had been to a few games whenever your brother had mentioned them. 

It was alone that the two of them had devised the genius (according to JJ) plan of recreating the Birds of Prey scene with Harley Quinn and the Huntress. 

“I mean you’re basically a motorcycle.” JJ had agreed as he secured rope to one of the metal bars that ran across the back of Hunter’s seat. “You’ve just got four wheels.”

“I actually have six.” 

“No way,” JJ stepped back to look at the chair, “dope.” He got on the skateboard you’d left on the front porch, holding the rope firmly in his hands and rolling back and forth slightly as he prepared himself to be pulled down the road by an eight year old. 

“Ready?” Hunter asked. 

“Ready.”

Your brother’s wheelchair could do a top speed of six miles an hour. Not nearly as fast as JJ’s dirt bike or the Twinkie but it awesome. He managed to skate around to the side of the chair so Hunter could see him, before letting himself be pulled again. If they picked up momentum correctly, according to science aficionado JJ, the trick would work. 

It was mid trick that drove passed them, sitting in the passenger side of your co-workers car. All you saw was Hunter’s wheelchair stopping and JJ whizzing passed him on a skateboard, headed straight for bushes. 

“Stop here,” you urged, even though you were a good ten feet from your house. 

They stopped and you got out, saying thank you before heading back in the direction you’d come from, where Hunter was now checking to make sure JJ was okay. 

“Only cars are allowed on the road.” 

“Is this not cars 4: OBX.” Hunter asked, spinning his chair around to see you. JJ stood sheepishly behind him, your board in his hands. 

“Hilarious,” you rolled you’re eyes, “what happened? Where’s mom?”

“Planting in the back or something,” JJ supplied, “I told her I’d watch Hunter.” 

“I guess we all make bad parenting decisions.” You remarked before turning to your brother, “come on, time to go inside. Both of you.” 

JJ smiled, following Hunter as he headed back down the road. You walked beside him, staring at the rope on the back of your brother’s wheelchair. 

“I know I’m going to regret asking this but, could you explain the rope hanging off your chair?” You asked. Hunter stopped, turning around so he could face you. 

“We tied it on so JJ could skateboard off my chair like in Birds of Prey.” 

You looked over at JJ and couldn’t help but smile, “I can see the resemblance, I bet you look fantastic in a gold jumpsuit.”

“Wouldn’t you like to know.” He replied. 

“You realize you missed the obvious best mode of transportation right?” You asked, going around the back of Hunters chair to untie the rope. He tried to turn and you tapped his shoulder, a non-verbal request that he stay still. 

“What’s that?” JJ asked. 

“You ride on the wheels!” Hunter replied as you stepped up onto the covers that sat above the back wheels, holding onto his handlebars. 

You rode a couple feet before jumping off and Hunter told JJ to get on, leaving you to carry the rope and the skateboard. You watched him with Hunter, smiling when he leaned over the back of the wheelchair to make dumb faces at your brother. As much as JJ annoyed you, it was futile to pretend you didn’t get that tug in your chest every time you saw him with Hunter. Your brother had little trouble getting along with people but that didn’t mean that JJ had to stop and talk to him all the time, or ask about his hockey games, or invite him to the beach (though so far your mom had declined that one, not trusting JJ to not lose Hunter out to sea or something). And he didn’t do it because of pity, you knew pity. You saw it all the time. It was the look Hunter got from people who talked to him because they felt bad for him. JJ wasn’t that type of person. 

“Do you wanna come in?” You finally asked when you reached the front door. 

“Yeah, sure.” JJ nodded, unable to stop from smiling. You were being surprisingly nice to him. 

“I can get you some Neosporin for your cut.” You tapped the side of your forehead, mirroring where his cut was. 

“Can I get in bed,” Hunter mentioned, glancing your way. 

“Sure, bed first, Neosporin after.” You held the door open for Hunter to go ahead of you, JJ following behind. He walked with you down the hall to Hunter’s bedroom, standing in the doorway and watching as you lifted Hunter into bed and got him comfortable. 

“Tomorrow you’ll have to show me those hockey moves,” JJ commented, looking over the shelf of trophies and ribbons that belonged to your bother. “we could verse each other.”

“Hunter’s never lost a game.” You replied, looking over at JJ.

“Yeah, I’ll whoop your butt!” Hunter announced, smiling. 

“I look forward to it bud.” 

“I hate to break up this odd smack talk but I’m gonna steal JJ away to bandage that cut on his face.” You said, having finished adjusting Hunter in bed. You looked over at JJ, “wouldn’t want you to scar.”

-

JJ sat on the closed toilet while you stood in front of him with the first aid kit open on the counter. He had his head tilted back so that you could clean the cut above his eyebrow and the one on his cheek. 

“I just, wanted to say thanks for hanging out with Hunter…he thinks you’re really cool.” You said, dabbing one cut with alcohol. JJ’s nose scrunched up at the feeling.

“Hunter’s awesome.” He shrugged. 

“While I definitely agree with that I just mean, he’s a kid and you don’t have to be nice to him and you are. And you don’t baby him like some people do.” You admitted. “That means a lot to me.”

“Well I’m not doing it to win any brownie points.”

“I know.”

“I mean if you wanted to, ya know, show your deep appreciation for me you could definitely like, take me out or something.” He grinned, biting down on his lower lip.

“How about I buy pizza and you can pick which movie we watch with Hunter?” You replied, rolling your eyes. 

“Deal.” 

“Deal.” You repeated, leaning down and kissing his cheek.


	34. Birthday - JJ Maybank x reader

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Request: bday girl here 😎 being goofy with JJ or pope? thank you lovely🥰

JJ had texted you early in the morning, earlier than he usually woke up when he didn’t have to, and requested that you meet him at John B’s. He didn’t say anything about your birthday but your figured maybe he would when he saw you in person. The only thing the text requested was that you arrive at John B’s ASAP and that you wear something that can get wet. 

When you got to the Chateau John B’s bus was gone but JJ’s dirt bike was sitting by the chicken coop, which hopefully meant your boyfriend was around here somewhere. It was from the coop that you noticed a large gift bag sitting on the porch steps with a piece of paper tapped to the front of it. The bag was filled with small water balloons and the note read:

_Girlfriend,_

_Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is this: take this ammo, find me, and the fight begins. I’m hiding with my ammo, fully prepared to crush you! Starting now you are UNDER ATTACK!_

Just as you finished reading the note a water balloon sailed passed your head and hit the porch frame. You jumped turning to see JJ standing behind the chicken coop, smiling. You grabbed your bag, rushing to get behind the big tree in the yard, dodging three more water balloons as you went.

“You’re going down JJ!” You shouted from behind the tree. 

“Bring it!” he called back, clearly proud of himself. 

You peered out from behind the tree, waiting for him to pop up from behind the coop. When he did you threw one, watching it skid off the top of the coop and explode. He tossed one back and it hit the ground, missing you. Both of you locked into a pretty epic water balloon battle, staining John B’s yard with pieces of colored balloons, water marking the ground and outside of the house. 

When you got halfway through your bag of water balloons you looked back toward the chicken coop, ready to throw one only to discover that JJ was gone. You tried to see if he was just crouching down behind the coop but you didn’t see him anywhere. Cautiously, you moved out from behind the tree, scanning John B’s yard for any sign of your boyfriend when, all of the sudden, someone grabbed you from behind and a water balloon broke over your head. 

“Oh my god!” You screamed, pulling away and whipping around only to have JJ pelt you with three more water balloons, “JJ!”

“I win.” JJ said, holding his arms out. 

Still holding your water balloon from earlier you threw it right at him, hitting him in the chest and soaking his pelican marina t-shirt. 

“No!” he protested, “I won! You can’t take a kill shot after I win.”

“I can do whatever I want, Jay, it’s my birthday.” You replied, running past him for your bag and beginning to throw balloons at him. 

“Oh my god!” He laughed, holding his arms up to shield his face, “this is like water balloon assault!” When one of them missed and landed on the ground, unpopped, he grabbed it and chucked it at you, hitting you in the arm. 

“The war continues!” You laughed. 

JJ got closer to you, grabbing some of the water balloons out of your bag and smashing them on you, close combat now your chosen form of war. The two of you were hitting each other with balloons until there were none left in the bag. JJ grabbed you again, pulling you into a hug to pop the last balloon against your back. 

“That’s so cold!” You laughed, tucking your head against his chest. “I seriously hate you for this!”

“That is a lie!”

“Maybe just a little.” You looked up back up at him and smiled, “thank you, this was fun.”

“Hey, anything for the birthday girl. Happy birthday, by the way.” JJ replied, kissing you. 

You pulled away, a thought occuring to you, “is your bag of balloons empty?”

“No, it’s still behind the chicken coop.”

“Race you!” You broke out of his grasp, making a beeline for the chicken coop as JJ called after you that you would never beat him.


End file.
